The Way Things Were
by chelz22
Summary: Mary Anne Spier is entering her sophomore year of high school determined to make things right with her former friends. Complete.
1. Prologue

A/N: _The Babysitter's Club_ does not belong to me, but to Ann M. Martin and Scholastic.

The prologue contains mostly Mary Anne's thoughts, but dialogue will be exchanged in upcoming chapters. Happy reading!

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It hadn't always been this way.

At thirteen, Mary Anne Spier had had everything that she could ever dream of. A cute, southern boyfriend, two best friends, one of whom was her sister. She had a new family to make up for the years that she had lived alone with her father after her mother died. And of course she had the Babysitter's Club- the closest friends that she could have ever asked for. Thirteen had been a great year, one that had seemed to last more than a decade.

Fourteen was when things started to slip a bit. Maybe it was finally making it to high school that did it. Either way, the Babysitter's Club had split up, despite all of the promises to stay best friends forever. Claudia and Stacy were in the popular scene, and she was lucky if they acknowledged her in the halls. Kristy and Abby had bonded over their love of sports and their proximity. Dawn was of course, in California, and rarely came back to Stoneybrook. Shannon was never that close to her to begin with, and Jessi h was living in New York where she could truly focus on her dancing. Lastly, and most strangely, Mallory was still at Riverbend, and had become something of a Queen Bee. No one had seen this coming.

With all this going on around her, it shouldn't have been such a surprise when Mary Anne began to retreat into herself. Admittedly, she wasn't very good at making friends. So when her old friends drifted away, she found herself to be very much alone. Everything became even worse when Logan broke up with her for Miranda Shillibar, saying that he couldn't date someone who never wanted to socialize or have fun. What he didn't realize was that she really did want those things, but did not know just how to get them.

Mary Anne could never remember feeling this alone. Sure, she had always been the sidekick to whatever scheme Kristy had come up with, but whatever they did, they did it together. It didn't help that her dad and Sharon were so involved with each other that they didn't notice that the new family they had created wasn't exactly cohesive. Mary Anne was indeed alone, but for her kitten, Tigger.

She was fifteen now. It had been a long summer, and she welcomed the upcoming school year to break up the monotony of books and social isolation that had been her summer. Despite everything that had happened in the last year, Mary Anne still held onto the idealism of her youth. Maybe fourteen had been an off year, and nothing more. After all, freshman never really have any idea what's going on, but sophomores are generally more sure of their place in the world. She would work hard to do well in school, and she would make every effort at getting in with her old friends. Eventually everything would fall back into place.

Thinking of this, Mary Anne felt happier than she had in a long time. Sure, things hadn't always been this way. But that didn't mean that they had to stay this way, either.


	2. Chapter 1

"Mary Anne, it's the first day of school," Sharon asked over breakfast, "Aren't you the least bit excited?"

"Just nerves, I guess." Mary Anne responded. Which was certainly true. Sharon just didn't understand the extent of her nervousness. Starting a new school year was hard enough, but trying to regain everything that she had lost was quite another.

"Well I'm sure that everything will be fine. You've always been such a great student." Sharon said. "Remember that your father and I are going to dinner and a play in Stanford tonight, so we won't be home until late. Why don't you have one or two of your friends over for pizza tonight?"

"That's a good idea," Mary Anne responded half heartedly. Sharon hadn't really noticed that Mary Anne's friends had slowly stopped coming over in the past year or so. Maybe this was part of her absent mindedness.

"Okay honey, I'm off to work. We'll see you tonight, if you're up. Have a great first day!" With that, Sharon left, and Mary Anne found herself alone with her thoughts.

She was certainly not looking forward to another night alone at home. Sure, she had Tigger to keep her company, but sometimes it helped to have someone who could talk back. While she was happy that things were going so well with her dad and Sharon, she wished that they would pay more attention to her. It seemed almost as if their relationship was so important, that they had forgotten what had come before it. Sharon hadn't even been that upset when Dawn and Jeff canceled their end of summer visit.

Maybe Mary Anne would call Dawn tonight, she would understand what was going on at home. After all, that was part of the reason that she had left for California. But she was usually so busy with Maggie, Sunny, Ducky, and Amelia that she didn't have much time to spend on the phone. Thinking of all this, as well as her anxiety for what was to come later that day made Mary Anne glad that she hadn't pointed out to Sharon that she was wearing two different shoes. If Sharon wasn't going to help look out for Mary Anne, then Mary Anne certainly wasn't going to look out for her.

Mary Anne looked at the clock, sighed, and headed out the door for school. It wasn't that long of a walk, but one that could seem like an eternity if one was making it by themselves. Lost in thought, Mary Anne was almost half way to school before she

realized she was walking right behind Claudia and Stacy. Claudia had toned down her outfits in the past year, and was wearing red shorts with three multicolored tank tops layered over them. She had no backpack, but instead what appeared to be a beach bag that held all of her school supplies. Stacy, on the other hand, looked amazingly sophisticated to Mary Anne, in a black mini skirt and halter top. Remembering the promise she had made to herself to try and reconnect with her old friends, Mary Anne forced herself to walk a little faster and become part of the conversation.

"Hey Stacy, Hey Claudia. How was your summer?" Mary Anne asked.

"Summer was good. Summer _school_ wasn't," grumbled Claudia. High school had proved to be even more challenging than middle school, and though she disliked summer school, it was clear that she needed all the help she could get. Despite her self proclaimed "above average" intelligence, Claudia was already struggling to stay on track for graduation.

"Well my summer was awesome," Stacy said, interrupting Claudia. "Whatever time I didn't spend shopping in New York I spent with Sam. And we became a lot closer this summer, if you know what I mean. Which you probably don't."

As she said this, Stoneybrook High School came into view.

"We've got to go meet up with Cokie and Grace before the bell. See you later!"

With that, Stacy and Claudia were gone. Mary Anne was reflecting on the conversation when she heard Stacy call her name. Maybe they would ask her to come with them! Hopefully, she responded.

"Yes?"

"You might want to hit up the mall sometime soon. Just because something was cool two years ago, doesn't mean it's still cool today."

"Thanks," Mary Anne replied, weakly. She looked down at her outfit. Surely there was nothing spectacular about her jeans, tank top, and zip up sweater, but it had looked alright in front of the mirror this morning.

"Well," she thought to herself, "that certainly could have gone worse." Keeping up with Stacy was exhausting, but maybe there was some hope with Claudia. After all, they had been friends since they were infants. When Mimi died, she had wanted them to look out for each other. Maybe if she tried to talk to Claudia without Stacy present she would be reminded of their history together.

Ascending the steps into the school building, Mary Anne felt butterflies in her stomach. Even though she was not nearly as shy as her childhood self, she couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed by all of the teenagers milling about the halls. And it was hard not to be intimidated by the seniors, who looked so much older than herself.

Mary Anne pulled her schedule out of her pocket, reviewed it, and then walked upstairs to her homeroom on the second floor. Looking at the seating chart, she found herself to be placed right in between Trevor Sandbourne and Krisy Thomas.

"Perfect," Mary Anne thought to herself, "If Kristy and I are sitting next to each other every morning for an entire semester, there won't be any way she will be able to ignore me." It would almost be like when they were neighbors, and their bedroom windows had looked right into each other.

Reminiscing, Mary Anne was reminded of all the good times that she and Kristy had shared before they had started growing up, and things had gotten so complicated. Sure, Kristy put on a tough, tomboy exterior, but inside she soft, and willing to do anything for her friends. Throughout childhood she had been Mary Anne's protector, and Mary Anne had done as much as she could to nurture Kristy. For many years they had been two halves of a whole.

Mary Anne was deep in though when the final bell rang, signaling the day to commence. Trevor sat beside her in his seat, but Kristy's chair was empty. Always punctual, it did not seem like to be late for the first class of the entire school year. Where was Kristy?


	3. Chapter 2

Mary Anne sat alone at home, phone in hand, trying to decide if she should call Kristy or not. They had three classes together besides homeroom, and Kristy had been absent from all of them. Maybe this wasn't such a big deal, but it was just so unlike Kristy. Also, Mary Anne had asked Abby if she knew where Kristy was when she saw her at lunch, and she didn't have any idea either. And Abby was her best friend! Mary Anne knew that if she were still best friends with Kristy, she would know the details of the situation. Of course, Mary Anne still didn't know why exactly her friendship with Kristy had dissipated. But that was another situation entirely.

Feeling momentarily brave, Mary Anne dialed Kristy's number. Holding her breath, she listened to the phone ring.

"Hello, Thomas-Brewer residence. This is the fabulous Karen Brewer speaking. How may I direct your call?"

Mary Anne rolled her eyes. Karen seemed to be growing more annoying with age.

"Hi Karen, it's Mary Anne. Is Kristy there?"

"Hold on one moment please, I'll go find her. I'm talking on the phone that is in my room, for just me to use. That's how much daddy loves me."

"That's great Karen. Thanks."

While she was waiting for Karen to find Kristy, Mary Anne heard shouting and what sounded like glass breaking in the background. Things were always crazy at the Thomas-Brewer's, especially since Karen and Andrew had come to live there full time. Mary Anne looked at her watch. What was taking so long?

"Hello?"

"Um… Hi Kristy, it's Mary Anne. I was just wondering…"

"Listen," Kristy said, cutting her off. "Now's not the best time for me. Can you make it quick?"

"Sure," Mary Anne replied, flustered. "I was just wondering why you weren't in school today. Because we have homeroom together. And three other classes. And you weren't there. So I was just wondering."

"There's a lot of stuff going on here right now. I had to take care of the kids. It was no big deal, I should be there tomorrow.

"Oh." Mary Anne replied, puzzled by the situation. Why wasn't Nannie taking care of the kids? And shouldn't they be in school anyway? Even Emily Michelle would be attending preschool this year.

"Well I just wanted to say that I missed you today, and this summer I guess. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Sounds good. Mary Anne?" She asked, her voice softening. "Thanks for calling."

"No problem Kristy. Bye."

"Bye."

Mary Anne set down the phone. The whole conversation had left her feeling slightly uneasy. She really hoped that Kristy would be in school tomorrow so that she could talk to her about it face to face. Sighing, she headed upstairs to her room.

Mary Anne did some reading for class, and before she knew it was after ten. Her dad and Sharon weren't home yet, so she went downstairs to lock all the doors and clean up a bit. She scooped up Tigger, and settled into bed, wishing that she wasn't alone in this house, wishing that she wasn't so alone, period.

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The next day Mary Anne arrived at school earlier than usual. She wanted to be ready and waiting in homeroom when Kristy showed up. This paid off, as a few minutes before the bell was to ring Kristy walked through the classroom door. She looked exhausted, her jeans were ill fitting, and her hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail. Though Kristy was never one to care for her appearance, she normally looked more together than this. What really bothered Mary Anne was that Kristy's large and in charge attitude that normally compensated for her small stature was replaced by a more passive demeanor. Mary Anne swallowed back tears. What was going on with her friend?

"Hey Kristy, Mary Anne said, smiling weakly. "You made it."

"Yeah." The word hung in the air, creating an uncomfortable silence.

"So why weren't you here yesterday? Your house was really noisy last night, and I guess I didn't get all the details over the phone."

"It was nothing. It's just that lately, Watson's-''

Kristy was interrupted by the bell, and then Ms. Faller starting class.

"What do you mean, Kristy? What about Watson?" whispered Mary Anne.

"He's been-''

"Kristy! Mary Anne!" Came Ms. Fallers sharp voice. "Is this the way that you want to start off the school year?

"No ma'am," Mary Anne answered meekly. Kristy didn't say anything.

"Then I suggest you remain quiet until homeroom is over. Moving on." Ms. Faller gave them one last look, and then went about reading the days announcements.

Mary Anne looked over at Kristy imploringly, but Kristy shifted her gaze and stared straight ahead to the front of the classroom. What was going on with Watson? He had always seemed like a nice guy, even paying for members of the Babysitter's Club to come on several family vacations. Mary Anne smiled briefly at her memories of happier times. Everything had seemed so much simpler back then, with no problem that couldn't be solved if the whole club worked together.

Returning to the situation at hand, Mary Anne was restless for the entirety of homeroom. Several times she looked over to Kristy, but she remained in the same position throughout the entire class period, never removing her focus from whatever she had fixated on in the front of the room.

Finally, the bell rang, giving Mary Anne her chance to figure out what was going on. But before she could ask Kristy anything, she was out the doorway and had blended in with all of the other students in the hallway trying to make it to their next class. At this point, Mary Anne really had no idea what was going on. It didn't help that Kristy completely ignored her in every other class that they had together, and when Mary Anne had tried to approach her after school she had brushed her off, and headed out to the parking lot where Sam was waiting with Charlie's old junk bucket. The car left the parking lot, leaving Mary Anne standing alone on the steps as confused as ever.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice that Stacey was standing right next to her.

"Well they certainly took off fast. Sam has been acting so weird lately."

Startled with the situation at hand, and the fact that Stacey had actually started a conversation with her, Mary Anne didn't know quite what to say.

"He always seems so preoccupied," Stacey continued. "It's a good thing that I know how to take his mind off things." She giggled.

"Really, you've noticed it too?" Mary Anne asked eagerly. "Kristy mentioned something about Watson in homeroom today, but-''

"Whatever, I'm sure it's nothing. Things are always crazy at their house. They have too many damn kids. I can't tell you how many times Sam and I have been interrupted and walked in on in the middle of, um, hanging out."

As if suddenly realizing who she was talking to, and who could see them, Stacey did a double take.

"I need to go. I'm meeting Cokie for fraps in like, ten minutes," Stacey said. "Good luck solving your little mystery."

With that, Stacey was gone, and Mary Anne was alone again. She walked home, and was very surprised to see her fathers car in the driveway as she approached the house. She picked up her pace, and was quickly inside.

"Hi Dad," she said. "You're home early."

"Or home at all," she thought to herself.

"Sharon mentioned that yesterday was the first day of school. How do your classes look this year? Do you think you'll get straight A's again?"

"They're fine dad, and I'm sure I will. But Kristy has been acting really weird lately."

"I'm so glad that you and Kristy have remained friends," said Richard absently. "It seems like just yesterday when the two of you were playing together everyday. Time just flies, doesn't it?"

"Yes, but dad-"

"I need to be going sweetheart. Sharon and are going to an art show in downtown Stoneybrook tonight. You better get going too, or you'll be late for your club meeting. Good bye honey."

"Bye dad," she responded, half-heartedly. She didn't even mention that the Babysitter's Club hadn't had a meeting in a year and a half. How was it possible that they lived in the same house and he didn't know that? What kind of father woud barely acknowledge his daughter's existence, but would spend three hours balancing his checkbook in order to find a missing three cents?

Resigning herself to yet another night alone Mary Anne walked to the bookshelf in her fathers study and very methodologically un-alphabetized the books on it. She then went to her room and began working on her homework.


	4. Chapter 3

The next few days quickly faded into each other, and despite Mary Anne's best efforts she was unable to get Kristy to talk about what was going on at home. She came to school every day and chatted about classes and homework, but the general look of weariness that had overtaken her was all Mary Anne needed to know that nothing was being resolved. But try as she might, Mary Anne just couldn't get Kristy to open up to her.

In her hurry to avoid Mary Anne's questions and leave school as quickly as possible, Kristy left her Algebra book on the floor next to her desk in their final class on Friday. This was Mary Anne's opportunity. She would bring it over to her house later. Maybe if they were alone, and outside of the hectic school environment Kristy would be more willing to share what was going on.

Mary Anne arrived home and set about her tidying the house and feeding Tigger. She barely glanced at the note on the table from her dad and Sharon that said they were spending the weekend at a friend's cabin in Vermont. She was just about to head over to Kristy's house when the phone rang.

"Hello, Spier's. This is Mary Anne."

"Hi Mary Anne, This is Dee Pike. I know this is short notice, but I was wondering if you could come over here for a few hours. Something's come up, and I really need a sitter."

"Um…Sure Mrs. Pike. I guess I can be there in about ten minutes."

"Thanks so much Mary Anne. I'll explain everything when you get here. Bye."

"Bye."

Sighing, Mary Anne set down Kristy's book. This would have to wait until tomorrow. Heading out the door, she wondered just what exactly was going on in the Pike's.

Just before she could ring the bell at the Pike's, the door opened and Mrs. Pike was hustling her into the kitchen.

"Thanks so much for coming Mary Anne, we're really in a pinch. My sister in Stamford was in a car accident, a minor one, thankfully, and I need to go down there to straighten things out. John won't be home for a few hours, so we just need you to cover the time in between."

"No problem, I've missed the kids. Who is here, anyways?" Mary Anne asked.

"The triplets are playing a basketball game tonight, and Mrs. Hobart will be dropping them off around nine. Mr. Pike should be home by then. Vanessa is spending the night at Haley Braddock's, so you don't need to worry about her. The only ones here are Claire, Margo, Nicky, and Mallory."

"Mallory's here? Mary Anne asked, confused.

"Riverbend is on the trimester system. She's here for her fall break," Mrs. Pike explained.

"But why can't she watch the kids? Mal's a great babysitter."

Mrs. Pike grimaced. "Mallory has picked up a lot of bad habits at Riverbend. Glitter nail polish, sparkle sweatshirts, you name it. We can't have her influencing Margo and Claire. They're too young."

"Um…okay," Mary Anne responded. "I guess that's it."

"Great, I'm off then. Mr. Pike should be home in a few hours. Thanks so much again Mary Anne."

There were some things that Mary Anne would just never understand about the Pikes, and the glitter ban was one of them. She followed the sound of voices to the den, where she found Claire, Margo, and Nicky watching television.

"You guys are getting so _big_!" Mary Anne exclaimed. I feel like I never see you anymore- how are things going?

"Fine." Margo responded. Claire and Nicky didn't remove their eyes from the television.

"Don't you want to do something? What fun is watching tv all day?" asked Mary Anne.

"We _always_ watch this show at four." Nicky whined.

Mary Anne was surprised to find the younger Pikes so subdued. Normally energy radiated from the house, and the kids were something of a force to be reckoned with. Maybe the Pikes had finally given up on their 'anything goes' parenting approach. Something was working anyway. She had never felt this calm in the Pike's house. It was almost unsettling.

"Okay then. If you don't mind, I'm going to go upstairs and say hi to Mallory. When I come back down we'll find something to do."

Mary Anne walked up the stairs to the second floor bedroom that Mallory and Vanessa shared. She hadn't spent much time with Mallory since the days of the Babysitter's Club, and she hadn't even seen her since her new transformation. Remembering the good times they had shared, Mary Anne was looking forward to talking to Mallory for a little while. Even though she was away at boarding school much of the time, there was really no reason whey they couldn't remain friends.

Mary Anne knocked on the door. "Mallory? It's Mary Anne. Can I come in?"

"If you must," came a voice from inside the room.

Mary Anne opened the door. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.

Mallory's braces had been removed, and her parents had finally caved and bought her contacts. Her curly mess of hair had been straightened, which looked like a process that would take hours every morning, as did her make up, which looked meticulous. She had grown a few inches, and no longer looked sturdy, but slender. She was wearing fitted black pants and a pale green camisole. She looked exactly like the girls at school whom Mary Anne couldn't stand. Finally, her clothes looked like they had been attacked by a bedazzler, with rhinestones liberally affixed to the fabric. Despite the sparkles and glitter, Mallory looked _normal_.

"Hey Mal," said Mary Anne, shocked. "How've you been?"

"Bored. This town sucks. I want to go back to Riverbend. I haven't seen Chloe, Kendall, or Amber in almost a week!"

"Well I'm glad to hear that you're doing well at school. We really miss you around here. Stoneybrook just isn't the same without you."

Mallory rolled her eyes. "Right, I'll almost believe that. I hate this town. I was supposed to spend break on the Cape, but my parents wouldn't fork over the cash. It was something about repairing the washing machine, and buying new shoes for Claire. Like that matters."

"I'm sure they only do what they think is best," Mary Anne responded weakly.

"You would say that. It's been two years, and you're still playing the sweet little babysitter role that you did at thirteen. How is the club nowadays?"

"We pretty much disbanded a year and a half ago. I thought you knew that."

"Like I would care? The whole group was full of bitches. Expecially Claudia and Stacey. If you had any idea what they did to me… Whatever, I don't care. If you don't mind, I need to call my roommate, Kimberly. We need to discuss which purses we'll be using on the first day of the trimester."

Pulling out her rhinestone studded cell phone, Mallory started dialing.

"Good bye," she said pointedly, looking towards the door.

Mary Anne walked downstairs to the den, trying understand the whole conversation. How is it possible for someone to change so incredibly much? Mallory surely wasn't the same girl who had dreamed of being a writer, and had loved playing horses. Now she was just another popular drone, who cared more about herself than anything or anyone else.

Mary Anne set Claire, Margo, and Nicky up with a game of Monopoly that was sure to take hours. She watched them play, reflecting on all of her former friends and how much they had changed over the past two years. Could it be possible that she had changed that significantly as well? She didn't even know what to make of that thought. She didn't feel any different, but she knew that it was also unrealistic to think that she had remained stagnant while everyone else was changing in some way.

She reflected on this until Mr. Pike came home and took over. She then walked home and let herself into the empty house. Coming into the living room she saw the answering machine blinking, indicating that she had missed a call. Mary Anne became momentarily elated- maybe Dawn had called, or Kristy. She anxiously played the message, waiting for what she hoped would break up the monotony of her nights.

Unfortunately, she was let down when she heard the contents of the message.

"Hi honey it's dad. I hope that your day went well. Sharon and I are having a great time in Vermont, we may just have to do this more often. Listen, Sharon forgot to mail some things, so if you could take the letters out of the VCR, and put them in the mailbox, we would really appreciate it. See you Sunday!"

Mary Anne found the letters that her dad was talking about, and walked them out to the mailbox, always the dutiful daughter. It figured that the only person who wanted to talk to her was her dad, and he just had more things for her to do. It wasn't like he called her up to say hi. It wasn't like he wanted to spend time with her.

Mary Anne wondered if things would have been different had her mother still been alive. She used to think so, but now she wasn't so sure. Who's to say that the relationship between her mother and father would have been any different from the one between him and Sharon? There's no guarantee that she wouldn't have ended up the same way: perpetually lost in the shuffle.

It seemed that Mary Anne had become something of a stranger in her own life- she hardly recognized herself or her surroundings anymore. Surely the girl she was two years ago would never have envisioned this future situation. Still, she clung to the idea that things could possibly come together and change, leaving her with everything that she had ever dreamed of. Everything that she had possessed what seems like a lifetime ago.

She wasn't sure if it was realistic or somewhat foolish to hold on to this idea of the life she wanted, but she knew that she had to. She really didn't have anything left.

Tomorrow would be a new day. She wasn't exactly sure what the day was going to bring, but she knew that she would do whatever she could to find out what was going on with Kristy.


	5. Chapter 4

Mary Anne slept restlessly, which had been happening more and more often lately. Maybe this was due to her parents never really being at home with her, or perhaps it was due to her troubles with her friends. Either way, she was exhausted.

Looking at the clock, she realized it was only 7:30, which was way too early for her to be up and about on a Saturday. So she lay in bed with Tigger just thinking about everything that was going on for about an hour. She had been doing a lot of reflecting lately, which had made her sad, but she supposed it necessary. After all, one could hardly figure out where they were going if they didn't know where they had been.

Mary Anne eventually climbed out of bed and started to get ready for her day. At ten she decided that it was time to go over to Kristy's house. She was surprised to find herself feeling so nervous- after all, Kristy was her oldest friend. She just had a nagging feeling that whatever the situation that Kristy was currently engulfed in was, it would be too big for the two of them to handle. This was such a change from when she was thirteen, and the Babysitter's Club seemed to be able to handle whatever challenge that a member faced.

Grabbing Kristy's Algebra book, she set out over to the Thomas-Brewer's on her bike. As nervous as she was, she also knew that she could not turn back.

After the 20 minute bike ride across town Mary Anne arrived at the Thomas-Brewer's. She rode into the driveway, and went to park her bike on the side of the garage. She noticed that the Junk Bucket was the only car parked in the driveway, and the garage seemed to be empty as well. Glancing to the backyard, which must have contained thirty bird baths, she saw David Michael, Karen, Andrew, and Emily Michelle huddled together at the picnic table by the swing set in the enormous back yard. They were not playing, or even talking, just sitting together silently. Mary Anne went over to talk to them.

"Hi guys," she said, "What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing," David Michael responded glumly. "We're just tired of being in _there."_

"Yeah, there's too much yelling," Andrew responded.

"Shh! We're not supposed to talk about that, remember? Kristy said," Karen piped up. She turned to Mary Anne. "Everything is great. We're just out here because we're forming a club. It's just for us, and no one else can be in it. I'm the president."

Mary Anne was confused- she really had no idea what was going on, and it was clear that she was not going to get a direct answer out of one of the kids. She reached out to pick up Emily Michelle and give here a hug- the poor little girl looked like she was about to cry.

"It's okay, Emily," she said, "If you stay out here with your brothers and sister, I'll go find Kristy and we'll make you a special treat. How does that sound?"

Emily Michelle didn't respond, but a smile crept up on her face. Mary Anne set her back down.

"Well I have Kristy's math book. She left it at school yesterday, and I know that she needs it to do the homework that was assigned this weekend. So I'm going to go inside and find her. Maybe afterwards we can all play a game or something."

Karen and David Michael looked at each other, talking with their eyes, but they did not say a word. Mary Anne braced herself for whatever she was about to find, and slowly walked around to the front door of the house. She rang the door bell. No one answered, so she eventually she walked right in. There had been a time when simply walking in to Kristy's house would not have been a problem. Things had certainly changed since then, and Mary Anne felt nervous.

Walking through the entry way and into the living area Mary Anne was shocked. Furniture was knocked down, and there was broken glass on the floor. She saw Kristy and Sam each doing what they could to clean up the mess.

"Hi Kristy," Mary Anne said weakly. "I brought you your algebra book. Because you left it as school. And I just thought that you might need it. To do your homework, I mean."

Kristy just stared at her. Algebra and school were clearly the farthest things from her mind.

"Thanks," Kristy said, "You really should go though. We have a lot going on around here, in case you haven't noticed."

"Kristy I want to talk to you. You can't hide the fact that something big is going on. Maybe we're not as close as we used to be, but I care about you. I want to help."

After saying this Mary Anne took a deep breath. Standing up to Kristy was something that she had rarely done in their childhood, and it took almost all of her energy.

After hearing this, Kristy visibly let down her guard. As tough as she appeared to be on the outside, she had always been just as sensitive as Mary Anne if you knew how to get through the exterior.

Kristy turned to Sam. 'I'm going upstairs to talk to Mary Anne for a little while. We'll be down to help in a bit."

Sam glared at her. "If you're getting Mary Anne into this, I'm calling Charlie."

"Fine. But don't expect him to do anything. He's given up on this family, remember?" Kristy said, bitterly.

"He's our brother. He'll be there for us. He's always there for us," Sam said, raising his voice.

Mary Anne stood back and listed and watched the exchange of the bickering siblings.

"If you say so," Kristy said, dismissively. "Let's go into my room. We can see the backyard from there, so we can keep an eye on the kids."

Together Mary Ann and Kristy walked up to the second floor where all of the kids had their bedrooms. Mary Anne hadn't been up here in a little over a year. She noticed that everything was exactly the same as she remembered it- even the school pictures on the wall had not been updated for some reason, which she thought strange. Elizabeth was usually on top of things like that.

Walking into Kristy's room, both girls sat down on her enormous bed, not saying anything. After a minute, Kristy began to speak.

"Nannie moved out last month. Did you know that?" She began.

Mary Anne just shook her head and let Kristy continue.

"She just got fed up with everything- Watson treated her like a maid. I mean, she moved in here to help take care of Emily Michelle, but she ended up doing all the cooking and cleaning as well. She put up with it for awhile, but eventually she just got sick of it. I don't blame her. And with… with the more recent events, I'm glad that she's out of here."

"It turns out that this whole blended family thing isn't as simple as everyone thought it would be, especially now that Karen and Andrew live here full time. Anyways, things have been so busy around here, especially without Nannie, and mom is exhausted."

Looking defeated, Kristy took a deep breathe before she continued.

"Watson's not quite the guy I always thought he was. He's not exactly a family man. Despite his heart attack, he started working more and more. And when he's not working, he's drinking. Mary Anne, it's terrible! He comes home drunk and starts fights with Mom and Sam. Charlie had enough, and says he won't come home until Watson is gone. The kids are scared out of their minds."

Tears formed in Kristy's eyes. "Mary Anne, I just don't know what to do. I've been thinking and trying for almost a year, but I can't think of anything that would work. I guess I ran out of great ideas."

Mary Anne and reached out to give Kristy a hug. She would never have guessed that all of this was going on. It seemed that the Thomas-Brewer's weren't doing any better than her own family. Mary Anne was momentarily grateful. Her dad and Sharon may never be home, but at least she didn't have to live in fear of what might happen next.

She didn't really know what to tell Kristy. This was something that was too big for her, too big for all of them.

"Let's go back downstairs and finish cleaning up. Then we can get the kids and try to cheer them up for a little while," said Mary Anne softly.

Kristy wiped away the tears in her eyes. She seemed to understand everything that Mary Anne could not say. The two of them walked back downstairs and eventually the house looked somewhat normal again.

They brought the kids in, and set about making macaroni and cheese for lunch. Things seemed calmer, and Emily Michelle and Andrew were even laughing.

Just as lunch was winding down, they suddenly heard tires screeching, and a loud crash.

Kristy ran outside to see what was going on, and Mary Anne stayed inside to watch the kids. She tried to get them into their play room in the basement so they would not have to be involved in whatever was happening.

Once the kids were downstairs Mary Anne rushed outside to find Kristy. Before she even got outside she heard Kristy screaming hysterically to call 911.

Mary Anne ran to the phone and started dialing.


	6. Chapter 5

Finally at home, Mary Anne went up to her room and lay on her bed. It had certainly been a long day. She lay in her bed and tried to process everything that had happened.

Watson wasn't in any way that man that she had always thought him to be. When she had heard that crash, she had never been so scared in her life, not even when she had to take Jenny Prezzioso to the hospital. Watson had crashed his brand new Mercedes into the garage. He had been driving drunk, which Mary Anne couldn't even comprehend. The ambulance came, and he had gone to the hospital to be checked out- he was at more risk because of his heart attack a few years ago. Also, a social worker wanted to talk to him, as well as Elizabeth. Nannie was going to stay at the house with all of the kids until things were settled down. Despite this, Mary Anne knew that it would be a long time before things were right at the Thomas-Brewer's.

Her thoughts drifted to David Michael, Karen, Andrew, and Emily Michelle. Those poor kids. If Charlie, Sam, and Kristy could hardly deal with what was going on, she could hardly imagine what the children thought of the situation. However, she had faith that between Kristy and Nannie, they would not fall through the cracks.

Even though it was only a little after nine on a Saturday night, Mary Anne soon drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

------------------

Mary Anne slept until eleven the next morning. Clearly, her body needed rest. After waking up she did some homework as well as some work around the house. Shortly after she made lunch she called Kristy. She just wanted to see how things were going, and if there was anything that she could do to help.

After the phone rang five times, the machine eventually picked up. Without leaving a message, she hung up and dialed the number of Kristy's cell phone.

"Hello," Kristy said.

"Hey Kristy, it's me. How is everything going over there today?"

"Better. Nannie took the kids to the zoo. Sam is in his room dong God knows what with Stacey. And I'm just hiding out here in my room trying to figure out how exactly all of this happened. I just don't understand it Mary Anne."

This did not sound like the Kristy Thomas that Mary Anne grew up with. That girl had faced every problem head on with full confidence. Some how life had broken Kristy to a point where she was just a shadow of her former self, without her even realizing it. Mary Ann wondered if people thought the same kinds of things about her.

"Even though yesterday was horrible," Kristy continued, "It may actually turn out to be a good thing. Nannie's back, though I'm not sure for how long. The kids really do so much better when she is around, especially Emily."

"What about your mom and Watson?" Mary Anne asked

A social worker talked to both of them at the hospital yesterday. Watson's going to be gong to a rehabilitation center for a few weeks. And when he comes back he is going to stay somewhere else, maybe in a hotel or something, until he and mom figure out what is going on. You want to know something?"

"Sure."

"I'm kind of glad that this happened. It's kind of nice to know that everything is pretty much out of my hands at this point."

"I don't blame you for that," Mary Anne responded.

"You know, when we were in eight grade, I really did believe that the Babysitter's Club could handle anything," Kristy continued. "It's really frustrating to actually feel less competent than I did at thirteen."

"I know what you mean. When I look back, I feel like we had our whole future planned out. Now I just try and make it through the day."

"I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels that way. Mary Anne?" Kristy asked.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about everything."

"Don't worry about it," Mary Anne said.

Though the bond between the girls had been strained in the past year, they both knew each other well enough that no further explanations were needed.

"I'll see you in school tomorrow."

"Bye."

Mary Anne hung up the phone feeling better than she had in a very long time. It felt so good to help Kristy and feel needed again.

Throughout the rest of the night, whenever she thought about her renewed friendship with Kristy, she couldn't help but smile. At the same time, she knew that Kristy had a lot going on, and though she wanted to help in any way possible, this was a situation that was way over her head.

While Mary Anne was trying to think of things that she could do to cheer Kristy up, she saw her dad and Sharon walking in from the garage. She laughed to herself when she saw Sharon trying to open the front door with a Swiss army knife rather than her keys. She had already ruined the lock twice before doing that.

She didn't know how she would begin to tell them about the events of the last few days. Maybe she wouldn't. She doubted they would ask about her weekend anyway.

"Hi dad, hi Sharon," Mary Anne said. "How was your weekend?"

"Have you talked to Dawn at all lately?" asked Sharon, ignoring the question.

"No."

"So you don't have any idea what's going on with her?"

"No."

"This is just great," Sharon muttered, walking out of the room.

"What was that all about?" Mary Anne asked her father.

"Right as we were on our way back, Sharon received a call from Jack. Sharon hasn't talked to Dawn or Jeff in about a month, but it seems that things aren't going as well as we thought for her in California. She's been fighting with Carol quite frequently, and now she wants to try living out here again," Richard explained.

Mary Anne rolled her eyes. Dawn had a habit of 'coast-hopping,' per se, when things started to get difficult. She had never been one for sticking it out through tough situations. As much as she loved Dawn, it was somewhat ridiculous.

"So what is Dawn going to do? Are you going to let her come back here to stay?"

"I don't see how we can really say no. But whatever we do, we need to decide quickly. If Dawn were to come back we wouldn't want her to be any further behind in school than she has to be. What do you think about the situation?"

Mary Anne was taken momentarily aback by the fact that her father was asking her opinion about something. In fact, this was the longest conversation that she could remember having with him in the past several months.

She wasn't quite sure how to respond to his whole situation. She loved Dawn dearly, and they had been best friends at the time of their parent's marriage. And they did get along well when Dawn and Jeff visited for holidays and summers. But if Dawn had changed half as much as Mary Anne and all of their other friends had, she wasn't really sure what to expect. Furthermore, she wasn't even sure if Dawn knew what kind of situation she would be getting herself into. She would be returning to their house, but the home they had created lied in shambles.

After thinking the situation over Mary Anne realized that none of that mattered. It was almost as if her dreams were coming true. Just a week ago, she had been alone. Now she had Kristy, and possibly Dawn as well."

"I do miss Dawn a lot," Mary Anne said, grinning.

"That's what I thought. And I suppose if you had Dawn to keep you company, it would give Sharon and I more time to ourselves, which would certainly be nice. I doubt that two teenage girls would want their parents around very much."

"I guess," Mary Anne responded, doubtfully. It figured that her dad would use this to figure out a way to ignore her more than he did. But that didn't really matter. If Dawn were here, it wouldn't matter if her dad and Sharon ignored them. They would be just fine, together.

"I'm going to go talk to Sharon about this. We have a lot that we need to figure out. You should call Dawn."

"I think I will."

Just as Mary Anne was reaching for the receiver, the phone rang.

"Hello, Spier's," She said.

"Hey, Mary Anne? It's Dawn."

"We were just talking about you! Are you really thinking about coming back? What's going on out there?"

"Listen, Mary Anne, I need your help. I _need _to come to Connecticut. You need to do whatever you can to make sure that mom and Richard agree to this."

"Is Carol that hard to live with?" Mary Anne asked.

"Carol's so wrapped up with Gracie that she's hardly said a word to me in the last month. This has nothing to do with Carol."

"Then what's going on?" Mary Anne asked, confused by the whole situation.

"I can't tell you over the phone, someone could be listening. I just need to get out of here, and you need to help me."

Mary Anne had no idea what was going on with Dawn, but like always, she was loyal to a fault. If Dawn needed her help, she would do whatever she could.

"I'll work on it, but you have to promise me that you'll fill me in the second you get here."

"I promise. Oh Mary Anne, it's going to be so great to be _home_. I'll call you tomorrow, okay? Go work on mom and Richard!"

"I will, I promise. Bye."

Mary Anne hung up the phone. She didn't know what Dawn was running from, and without knowing that, she couldn't guess if what she was running to would be any better.


	7. Chapter 6

Monday morning at 6:00am Mary Anne woke up to the sound of her alarm clock. Hitting the snooze button, she lay awake in bed, working to get enough energy to start the day. Eventually she got out of bed, and went about her morning routine. After showering and getting dressed, she walked downstairs for some breakfast. On her way to the kitchen she passed the living room, where Richard and Sharon sat talking about the Dawn situation over coffee. Not letting them see her, she listened to what they were saying.

"I have no problem with Dawn coming to stay with us, I think it would be great for Mary Anne," Richard said. "But do you think that it is wise that we let her go back and forth between houses, and coasts for that matter, whenever is suits her? She needs to learn to live with her decisions."

"I knew that she would never last out there. Jack doesn't know a thing about parenting, he gives her too much freedom. I think that the best thing that we can do for Dawn is to get her back here. Mary Anne should be a good influence on her."

"I agree. However, if she comes out, I think that we need to lay down some serious ground rules. We can't have her running wild all over the place the way that she does with those friends of hers in California."

"It will be so nice to have the girls back together again. I'm sure that this is just the thing that Dawn needs right now- a stable, loving family environment, with parents who are home to know what she is doing. Mary Anne is flourishing- we're obviously doing something right," Sharon said.

Mary Anne could hardly believe what she was hearing. She knew that Sharon was not that bright, but did she honestly think that their household in any way resembled a loving family environment? Their parenting style was to leave Mary Anne to her own devices as to not have her interfere with their relationship. They were not good parents so much as lucky.

As she had many times before, Mary Ann wondered how it was possible that her dad and Sharon have no idea what was going on in her life. Sure she received good grades, and didn't make any trouble for anyone, but did that really put her at flourishing status? She felt more like she was floundering, the only thing consistent in her life her insecurity.

"You're right," Richard said. "There will be a lot to work out in terms of custody arrangements, but I see no reason why Dawn can't be out here in more than a few days. We don't want her to miss any more school than she already has."

"I'll call Jack today and see what we can work out."

Mary Anne took this as her cue to join the conversation.

"Good morning. Are you guys talking about Dawn? Is she going to come back here?" Mary Anne asked.

"That's what it is looking like. Sharon is going to call Jack today and make the arrangements. This will certainly be a surprise for the girls in the Babysitter's Club, won't it?" Richard asked.

"Sure dad, I'll make sure to tell Kristy about it today," Mary Anne said, once again wondering how her dad never managed to pick up on the fact that the BSC disbanded ages ago.

"Good, maybe you can invite all of your friends over for some sort of welcome home party next weekend," Richard proposed.

"Something like that could be fun," Mary Anne said carefully. And it could be. If she had any one besides Kristy to invite. Dawn was going to think that she was such a loser. Oh geez, she hadn't thought about that.

"Well I suppose that the three of us better get ready for the day- we will all be busy. Make sure you eat a good breakfast, Mary Anne."

"It's raining honey, would you like a ride to school? I can drop you off on my way to work," asked Sharon.

"Sure, that would be great," Mary Anne responded.

"Okay, I'm leaving in about fifteen minutes," Sharon said.

With that, Mary Anne headed to the kitchen, and fixed her self a bowl of cereal while thinking about everything that was going on. She had certainly never anticipated any of life's recent events. While things looked like they were gong to work out with Kristy, that situation was still somewhat uneasy. And she had no idea what Dawn coming back would bring.

She went back upstairs to her room to grab her book bag, and say good bye to Tigger. She then went out to the car to wait for Sharon.

Sharon's car was in every way representative of her absent-minded personality. Also, it looked like it hadn't been cleaned out in years. The back seat was filled with empty bottles of water, shoes, and ancient to do lists. Across the dashboard was a half folded map of North Dakota, for whatever reason.

Sharon then came from the house, holding her briefcase and a blender. She set both in the backseat and climbed in the car.

"So are you excited to have Dawn coming back? I know that you miss her just as much as I do," said Sharon, backing out of the driveway. "When was she here last again? Was it when she came with Jeff last March over spring break?

"Yeah I think so. I really wish that they had come out over the summer like they had planned," Mary Anne said. She hoped that without her father present she could get Sharon to fill her in on what was going on with Dawn. Though she suspected that Sharon didn't know the half of it.

Shannon cleared her throat. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that." She pulled into a lot and parked the car.

"Dawn's friends in California aren't anything like the girls that you hang out with here. They're fast. I don't know how much she's told you, but the reason that she didn't come out over the summer was because a week before she was supposed to come, she was caught at a party on the beach. She wasn't drinking, though most of the kids there were. But she was caught with the possession of marijuana."

Mary Anne gasped audibly. She knew that Sunny had been involved in things like that, but Dawn had always said that it wasn't her thing.

"Your father doesn't know about this," Sharon continued. All he knows is that Dawn runs with a fast crowd, but he doesn't know the particulars. I would appreciate it if you didn't tell him."

"I guess…"

"After this happened last summer, I wanted Dawn to come back here right away. But she refused, and I was so mad that I could hardly stand to talk to her. She wouldn't let me help her, so I pushed the whole situation out of my mind." Now I don't know what exactly is going on between her and Carol, but it hardly matters if she is willing to come back. This could be what saves her."

Mary Anne tried to let all of this information sink in. How was it possible that all of this was going on without her knowledge? She knew that her relationship with Dawn wasn't nearly as close as it used to be, but she thought that she still new basically what was going on. Apparently, she was wrong.

Also, she wasn't sure how much she was to believe of what Sharon was saying. Obviously, Sharon cared about her daughter, but this conversation was the first Mary Anne had heard of her apparent anguish about Dawn. Either way, it was still evident that Sharon didn't know the real reason that Dawn was coming back. Mary Anne wondered if she would ever know, or if Dawn would keep this too from her.

"I need you to watch out for Dawn. I really think that coming back to Stoneybrook and a simpler lifestyle will be what she needs. If she spends time with you and all of your friends, I have no doubt that she will turn around. You've been a great daughter Mary Anne. Now you need to be a great sister."

"I'll do whatever I can," Mary Anne said weakly. "You know I care about Dawn just as much as you do."

"That's my girl," Sharon said, beaming, and pulling out of the parking lot. "Now remember, your father doesn't need to know the details about this situation. It's just better that way."

A few moments later, Stoneybrook High School came into view. Sharon pulled to the curb and Mary Anne climbed out of the car.

"Have a great day sweetie. I'm glad that we talked."

"Bye Sharon. Thanks for the ride."

Mary Anne ascended the steps of the high school. Yesterday, for a brief moment, it had felt like things in her life were coming together again. Now she wasn't so sure. As much as she wanted Dawn to come back, she now had no idea what to expect.

Mary Anne walked to her locker and retrieved the books that she would need for her morning classes. It was going to be a long day.


	8. Chapter 7

Mary Anne looked at her watch again. In about a half hour, she would be going with Richard and Sharon to pick up Dawn at the airport. The past few days had been a flurry of phone calls back and forth between California and Connecticut. It had been decided that she would fly in on Friday night. That way she would have the weekend to get settled, and would be able to attend school on Monday. She was going to have to work awfully hard to catch up in school- she would be starting two weeks into the school year, which ensured a lot of extra homework.

It was certainly going to be interesting to have Dawn living here again. Mary Anne smiled when she thought of the first few weeks that they had lived together following the marriage of her dad to Sharon. She and Dawn had been so excited at the idea of being sisters that they had tried to share a room. That didn't last very long. They were sisters, and best friends, but they hadn't been that close. Mary Anne wondered if that time was the defining point of their relationship. It seemed almost as if they had been growing apart since then.

She tried to work on her homework, but found that she couldn't concentrate. That certainly wasn't going to help her grade point average any. But still, it wasn't everyday that her family life changed so dramatically. She had reason enough to not think about her homework. Right?

She let out at sigh and finally put down her pen. There was no way that she was going to be anything constructive done tonight. Instead, she went down the hall to Dawn's room. Dawn had never really spent any significant amount of time in this room- it looked like no one had ever really lived in it. Dawn had already moved back to California when the old house burned down, and had just spent her holiday and summer visits in the new house. The longest of these visits had been the summer after eighth grade, when she and Jeff had come out for a month, bringing Sunny with them. Mary Anne wondered if Dawn would be able to see this house as home. She wondered if Dawn would be able to ever really consider any place home. Maybe that was part of the problem.

She straightened the framed picture of herself and Dawn that had been taken on the day of their parent's wedding. They looked so young, so ready and excited for whatever was ahead. Mary Anne smiled at the memory, but was saddened by the reminder that they had both changed so much from the younger versions of themselves. Would they ever be able to capture that magic again? She hoped so.

"Mary Anne," Sharon called out, interrupting her thoughts. "We're leaving. Are you ready?"

"Coming," She responded.

She shut the lights off and headed downstairs and out the door. Her dad and Sharon were already in the car, further discussing the logistics of the next few days. It was a lot of work to transfer ones child across the country. Mary Anne opened the copy of _A Tree Grows in Brooklyn_ that she had brought along, and started to read. Before she knew it they were pulling into the Stamford Airport.

Climbing out of the car, Sharon gave her a big hug.

"I know you're just as excited as I am," she said loudly, for Richard's benefit.

Quietly, in Mary Anne's ear, she whispered: "remember that everything that I told you is just between us."

Mary Anne pulled away and nodded ever so slightly. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she forced a smile, and thought of Dawn and the great times they always had, and what a great friend and sister she was. Regardless of what Dawn had done in California, things could still work out here. Mary Anne needed this more than anything, and she had a feeling that Dawn did as well.

They found the gate where Dawn's plane would be coming in, and settled themselves in for the wait. About half and hour later an attendant announced that Dawn's plane had landed. Shortly thereafter the people started streaming into the airport, and Mary Anne found herself searching frantically for any sight of her sister.

Suddenly, she saw her in the crowd.

"Dawn," She called out. "Over here!"

Dawn saw them and started running over. The first thing she did was set down her things and give Sharon a big hug. This gave Mary Anne time to look her over, as she always did, searching for changes. Her once long blonde hair was now cut in a simple, shoulder length style. Dawn hadn't mentioned anything about that on the phone. She looked a little too thin, and she had dark circles under her eyes. She looked about as tired on the outside as Mary Anne felt on the inside.

But she was smiling her famous smile, and that gave Mary Anne hope that coming back to Stoneybrook would be exactly what Dawn needed.

Finally it was her turn. She reached out to hug her sister tight.

"I missed you so much," Mary Anne said, tearing up.

"Me too. Mary Anne, you have no idea how much I needed to come back here. I'm so glad to be home."

Dawn didn't elaborate any further, which Mary Anne hardly expected, with her dad and Sharon standing right there. They went to the baggage claim, and then the four of them walked out of the airport together, a family heading home.

------------------------------------------

Dawn was quiet the whole ride home, while Sharon and Richard chatted non stop. Mary Anne was really happy for Sharon- she was practically beaming. Mary Anne was ecstatic inside, but she wanted to be careful about showing too much emotion. She was trying to be wary of the whole situation- recent developments in her life had taught her that she was very likely to be disappointed by the people she cared about.

Arriving home, she helped Dawn carry her bags up to her room. They set the bags down, but Dawn made no effort to start putting them away. The two of them stood together in her room not really saying anything for awhile. Mary Anne turned to head downstairs, and Dawn followed her.

"It's so nice to see the two of you girls together again!" Sharon exclaimed "I've planned a whole night for us. We're going to watch some family videos and put together a family scrapbook. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

Mary Anne was alarmed. They hadn't had a family night like this since…well, she didn't remember. Maybe since before Dawn had moved to California for the last time. Sharon was clearly trying to sway her daughter with wholesome fun, but Mary Anne had didn't know how long it would last. Her dad and Sharon hadn't really been so family oriented in the last couple of years.

"That sounds really great mom," Dawn said half-heartedly. "But I'm really jet lagged. I think I should just get to bed so I can work on unpacking everything tomorrow."

"Don't worry, I completely understand honey. Now that you're living here we'll have all the time in the world to spend together."

With that Dawn headed upstairs. Mary Anne could tell that Sharon was disappointed. She didn't feel sorry for her though. If Sharon couldn't remember that California was three hours behind Connecticut, making it relatively early California time, that was her problem.

"I think that I'm going to go to bed as well," Mary Anne said

"Good night Sharon, good night dad."

With that she head upstairs to her room, as she walked up the stairs she heard her dad and Sharon discussing going out for a movie and drinks. The fact that Mary Anne and Dawn hadn't wanted to attend their family night hadn't seemed to phase them.

Mary Anne sat in her room, waiting for Dawn to come to her. She had promised to tell her everything that was going on right away. She felt silly just waiting, but she didn't really want to seem to eager, and also, she wasn't sure how Dawn would react if she just invaded her space. Maybe she really was just tired.

After waiting an hour, Mary Anne decided to go to Dawn. Even if Dawn didn't fill her in on what was going on, maybe the two of them could just hang out. Like sisters. Just as she was raising her hand to knock on the door, she heard Dawn's voice. She was talking on the phone to someone. Mary Anne strained to hear the conversation.

"I really am glad to be here," She paused. "No, I'm not running away from my problems. And like you're one to talk. Tell me the truth, have you had anything to eat today?" Dawn paused. "That's what I thought."

Dawn was talking to Maggie, one of her close friends in California. Mary Anne didn't know many of the details, but Dawn had told her that Maggie had developed an eating disorder when they were thirteen, and despite help from many professionals, along with support from her friends, had never seemed to get completely over it.

"Listen, what happened that night is something that no one else needs to know," Dawn continued. "I wasn't exactly in a rational state of mind if you recall."

Mary Anne really wished she could hear what Maggie was saying on the other end of the line.

"No, I haven't talked to Sunny since then. It would just be… too weird."

Now this piqued Mary Anne's interest. The last time she heard, Sunny was Dawn's best California friend, and things were going well between the two of them.

"Maggie, have you talked to Sunny at all?" She paused. "When you do, will you call me and let me know how she is?"

Mary Anne could tell that Dawn was starting to tear up. What was happening between her and Sunny? Was this what Dawn was running away from?

"I miss you too Mags. Try to eat something for me, okay?" Dawn asked softly. "I'll call you tomorrow night," She paused. "Bye."

Mary Anne heard Dawn put down the phone. She was about to knock on the door when she heard her start to sob. She wasn't so sure if she should go in or not. A few years ago she wouldn't have even hesitated. Now they were certainly at a different point in their relationship, and Mary Anne didn't want to invade Dawn's space, especially while she was crying. She wasn't sure if she would be a comfort, or a bother.

Eventually Dawn's crying ceased, and Mary Anne heard the heavy breathing that indicated sleep.

"Good night Dawn," She whispered. "I love you."

Sighing, she headed to her room and began to get ready for bed. It was certainly going to be hard work to get through to Dawn. She just hoped that tomorrow would go a little smoother.


	9. Chapter 8

Mary Anne woke up around ten the next morning. She went downstairs to the kitchen to find something to eat. A note was on the counter from her dad and Sharon; apparently they were going to New York, and would be back late Sunday night. As Mary Anne finished reading the note, Dawn came downstairs, and she wordlessly handed it to her.

Dawn read the note. "Why do you think they are going to New York?" she asked.

"I don't know. Why do they go anywhere? It's been about four months since they spent a weekend at home," Mary Anne replied.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Things haven't exactly been so great around here."

"That's kind of what I figured," Dawn responded. "But I would still rather be here right now instead of California."

Mary Anne didn't responded, hoping that Dawn would elaborate on that statement. She didn't, and the girls proceeded to eat in silence until the phone rang. Dawn was closer, but made no move to pick it up, so Mary Anne got up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mary Anne? It's Kristy."

"Hi Kristy," Mary Anne responded. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you would like to hang out today. I don't really have anything planned, but I thought it might be fun. It would be like when we were little. Anyways, Nannie is taking the kids bowling and to a movie, so it's just me and Sam here."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun. I didn't really have any plans for today. Would it be alright if Dawn came along? She just flew in last night," Mary Anne explained.

"Oh wow, I had forgotten about that. Yeah, no problem. I haven't seem Dawn in a long time."

"Hold on, let me ask her."

"Okay," Kristy replied.

"Do you want to hang out with Kristy today. She's got the house to herself, besides Sam, and she want us to keep her company. It would be just like old times."

"Sure, I guess," Dawn replied. She didn't look too thrilled.

"Kristy?" Mary Anne asked. "We'll be over in about an hour."

"Okay, see you then."

Mary Anne hung up the phone. "Are you sure you don't mind going to Kristy's?" she asked. "You don't exactly seem too excited."

"No, I am," Dawn replied. "It's just hard to jump right into my old life here. It's been so long since I've seen everyone, and I've sort have lost touch. Everything is familiar, but different enough that I feel uneasy. Do you know what I mean?"

"I know exactly what you mean," Mary Anne replied honestly." And she did, despite that fact that she had never moved away. She wondered if maybe Dawn had an advantage in that respect. After all, people expected that she should feel out of place.

"I'm sure it will be fine though. It will be a nice way to segue into my Stoneybrook social life."

"I'm going to go upstairs and get ready. Let's meet back here in thirty minutes, and then we'll get the bikes ready."

Mary Anne then walked up to her room. Like Dawn, she felt a little uneasy about the day. Her friendships with both Dawn and Kristy seemed rather precarious at this point, and it was hard to predict what could happen as the result of an afternoon together.

When did she start to think this way? There really was no reason that she should be. True, neither Dawn or Kristy were her best friends any more, but that didn't mean that they couldn't spend a fun afternoon together. It would be a nice change from doing her homework and playing with Tigger anyway.

She met downstairs and the two of them biked to Kristy's house. Along the way, she gave Dawn a brief summary of what had been going on at the Thomas-Brewer's. As much as she knew anyway. Kristy hadn't really talked about it lately. She told Mary Anne the basics of what was going on, but rarely her feelings. Kristy was a lot more guarded than she used to be. This bothered Mary Anne. She hoped that Kristy would eventually learn to be more open again.

Riding up into the driveway she noticed that no one had repaired where Watson had crashed into the garage. She wondered why. It served to her as a reminder that the Thomas-Brewers, like most families, were not as together as they appeared to be. She imagined that it must hurt the kids to see it, they didn't need a reminder of everything their family was not.

Just as they were about to ring the bell, Sam drove up in the Junk Bucket, with Stacey in the passenger seat.

"Dawn?" Stacey asked "Is that you?"

"Yeah. I just moved back to Stoneybrook. How are you doing Stacey?"

"Great. I'm sure Mary Anne told you about Sam and I," Stacey said, slipping her hand inside the waistband of Sam's jeans.

"Yeah… She did mention it."

"It's been the best four and a half months of my life. And don't worry; like I tell my mother, we're having fun and being careful, right Sam?"

"Sure thing Stace," Same replied, squeezing her ass.

Sam and Stacey walked into the house, while Mary Anne and Dawn tried to process the conversation.

"So Stacey has turned into an uber-slut," Dawn remarked. "I guess that I saw that coming."

"Dawn!"

"What, I'm just being honest," she said, smiling. "Come on, let's go find Kristy."

Sam and Stacey had left the door open, so they walked right into the mansion. Looking around, Mary Anne noticed that things looked much more put together than they had a few weeks ago. She attributed that to Nannie.

They found Kristy in the kitchen, listlessly flipping through a fashion magazine.

"Umm Kristy?" Mary Anne asked. "Do you have any idea what you are reading?"

Looking down, Kristy did a double take. "I guess not. Sorry, I didn't hear you come in. I was just thinking I guess."

Suddenly she seemed to notice that Mary Anne wasn't alone. "Dawn!" she exclaimed, getting up to give her a hug. "It's so great to see you!"

"You too Kristy," Dawn said, seemingly taken aback. After all, it had been over a year and a half since she had seen or talked to her. Still, it was nice to be missed.

"I don't want to be rude," Kristy said. "But Mary Anne hasn't exactly filled me in. Why did you come back to Stoneybrook? The last I heard, you loved everything about California."

Dawn shot Mary Anne a glance. She could tell that Dawn didn't really want to talk about this. She didn't say anything though. Maybe it would have considerate of her, but not honest. She really wanted to hear Dawn's answer.

"I did," Dawn said. "I still do, actually. But right before school was about to start I went to this party with a bunch of friends. Some things happened that I wasn't really comfortable with, and I eventually realized that it would just be easier to live out here for awhile."

"It doesn't seem like you to take the easy way out," Kristy remarked. "I always admired the fact that you stood up for what you believed in, instead of backing away from it."

"I used to like that about me too," Dawn said softly.

"I guess we've both changed then," Kristy said. "Because there were a lot of things that I used to like about myself as well."

Mary Anne stood back and listened to the conversation between Kristy and Dawn. It seemed as if they had forgotten she was there for a moment. She wondered what they were being so honest with each other. Maybe because they hadn't seem each other in so long. Often times people found comfort in mutural disclosure.

"Did Mary Anne fill you in on everything that is going on here?" Kristy asked

"Yes," Dawn said simply.

"Sorry, Kristy. I didn't think that you would mind," Mary Anne said.

"Don't worry about it. It's easier that way, actually. When I talk about it, everything seems more real some how."

The three girls stood in the kitchen for a few minutes letting the words hang in the air, each reflecting quietly on what was going on in their lives. Eventually they moved into the living room and put on a movie. They filled the rest of the afternoon with gossip and superficial conversation. There seemed to be a mutual agreement to ignore the problems currently present in their lives and attempt to have fun for an afternoon.

Mary Anne smiled. Nothing life altering had happened that afternoon, but the three of them had enjoyed several hours together. Maybe having Dawn home wasn't going to be as dramatic as she had feared. Maybe things were changing for the better.


	10. Chapter 9

Mary Anne stood in the hallway between her room and Dawn's. It was Sunday night, Dawn's third night back in Stoneybrook. And tonight, just like the two nights before, Dawn was crying herself to sleep. The first two nights Mary Anne hadn't done anything. It wasn't that she didn't want to help Dawn with whatever she was going through, but more that she wished Dawn would come right out and tell her. Given the state of their relationship, she didn't want to intrude where she was not wanted.

But she couldn't just stand in the hallway every night and listen to Dawn cry. Hesitantly, she knocked on the door.

"Dawn?" She asked softly. "Can I come in?"

Dawn didn't answer, so Mary Anne slowly turned the handle and opened the door. She found Dawn lying on her bed, sobbing.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Mary Anne asked meekly.

With this, Dawn finally looked up at her. Wiping away some of the tears with her sleeve she just shook her head.

"Can I just listen or something? I hate to see you like this."

"You can't make this better Mary Anne. It's something that I need to deal with myself."

"I understand," said Mary Anne simply, even though she really didn't. As much as she wanted Dawn to confide in her, she did know that it would be better to give her the space that she needed. "If you ever do want to talk though, I'm here to listen. Seriously. I've really missed you."

"Thanks," Dawn said, sniffling.

With that, Mary Anne walked out of her sister's room. She had completed her homework for the weekend earlier that day, so she went downstairs to watch some television before going to bed. If she remembered correctly, one of the movie channels was going to be showing _Sixteen Candles_.

While sitting in the living room, she heard her dad and Sharon talking. They had arrived back from their trip to New York about an hour ago.

"Dawn seems to be adjusting well,' Sharon said brightly. "She and Mary Anne spent the whole weekend together, and everything seems to have gone just fine."

"It might be a little too premature to assess the situation," Richard countered. "After all, she does start school tomorrow, and we should really see how well that goes. Though things have seemingly gotten off to a great start."

"The girls just both seem so happy!" Sharon exclaimed.

Mary Anne was taken aback. She wondered what exactly she and Dawn were doing to give off this 'happy' vibe that Sharon had managed to pick up on. Was it the crying themselves to sleep, or the general self loathing?

On the other hand, maybe Sharon only saw what she needed to see. Despite her many flaws, she really did care about Dawn and Mary Anne, and wanted very much for them to feel loved and happy. It was just that she really didn't know hot to impart that love without compromising the other things in her life. Mary Anne figured that she convinced herself that the girls were fine, so she wouldn't feel guilty about her lack of parental duty. Strangely enough, this didn't bother Mary Anne very much. Everyone needs to cope somehow.

Having heard enough of the conversation, Mary Anne walked upstairs to her room, forgetting all about the movie that she had been planning to watch. She really wanted to talk to someone, but it didn't seem like anyone in this house was going to make themselves available, so she decided to call Kristy. When she picked up the phone extension in her room, she realized that Dawn was already on it. Despite her initial reaction to hang up the phone, she held on to it and listened to the conversation.

"I gained three pounds since last week. I just thought that you would like to know."

Dawn was talking to Maggie again. Mary Anne listened carefully, hoping that they would talk about Sunny, and whatever it was that made Dawn decide to come back to Connecticut.

"Maggie that's great, I'm so proud of you!" Dawn exclaimed

"Thanks, but I don't really want to talk about it. I just wanted you to know. But I do know that you want to talk about Sunny. I talked to her today at school. We are in the same world history class. Dawn, she's hurt and confused. I don't care how akward you say that things will be, you need to talk to her."

"I know," Dawn said softly. "And I really want to. But every time I pick up the phone to call her I think of that night, and everything that happened."

"I know you're scared. But you and Sunny have been through so much over the years. I'd hate to see you lose everything over something so stupid."

"I know."

"And you can't exactly hide from her forever," Maggie continued. "You can run to Connecticut for the time being, but you're going to have to come back to Palo City at some point."

"I know you're right," Dawn said softly.

"Well that's the first step. Now you need to do something about it," Maggie said firmly.

"I'll try Mags, I promise. Maybe I will call her sometime this week. Thanks for listening to me."

"You know that I'll always be here for you. But remember that you have other people who are there for you as well. Like Mary Anne." Maggie said pointedly.

Hearing her name made Mary Anne almost drop the phone. Luckily, she caught herself and didn't make any noise. She was surprised that Maggie had said that. She had only met Maggie a few times, but she had always liked her. She hadn't realized that Dawn and Maggie had become so close."

"Bye Maggie, I'll call you tomorrow or the next day."

"Bye Dawn."

Mary Anne hung up the phone, frustrated. First of all, she was mad at herself for evesdropping on Dawn and Maggie's conversation. That really wasn't the type of person that she was. Also, she was continually frustrated with the fact that Dawn had yet to tell her what went on in California. She had promised that she would tell her right away, and at this point it didn't look like Mary Anne would ever find out.

Mary Anne had felt so long feeling shut out from her family and friends, and it had finally seemed like things were turning around.

Also, Mary Anne had selfish reasons for this as well. As much as she wanted to be there for Dawn, she wanted someone to be there for her. At this point, Mary Anne didn't have anyone she was close enough to talk about her problems with. She and Kristy had pretty much picked up where they had left off, which was great, but with all that Kristy had going on, it didn't seem fair to give her more to worry about. And her dad and Sharon pretty much refused to believe that she was anything but happy, so she really didn't have an outlet there.

Mary Anne picked up Tigger, and went to lie down in bed. It was her turn to cry herself to sleep.

-----------------------------

The next morning, Mary Anne woke up early to the sound of her alarm. She got out of bed, gathered her things, and headed to the bathroom, grateful that she had made it before Dawn. After getting ready for the day, she headed downstairs. She noticed that the door to Dawn's room was still closed, but figured that she was downstairs eating a bowl of all natural wheat granola, or whatever it was that she liked for breakfast.

"Good Morning sweetheart," Sharon said, as Mary Anne walked into the kitchen. "Is Dawn excited for her first day of school?"

"I don't know. I'm not ever sure if she is up yet," Mary Anne replied.

"She must still be jet lagged, that poor thing. Come on, let's go wake her up."

Sharon knocked lightly on Dawn's door, and then opened it slightly. She and Mary Anne were both surprised to find Dawn up and dressed, sitting on the window seat and staring outside.

"Good morning honey," Sharon said, giving Dawn a kiss on the top of her head. "Are you excited for your first day of school back in Stoneybrook?"

"I'm not going."

"What?" Sharon replied, confused.

"I'm not going, and you can't make me," Dawn said again.

"Dawn honey, I'm confused. What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Mary Anne watched the seen in front of her unfold just as confused as Sharon was. She had no idea why Dawn was refusing to go to school. She hadn't hinted at anything like this and they had spent the entire weekend together.

"School won't be that bad Dawn," Mary Anne said, unconvincingly. "You'll probably have homeroom with Kristy and I."

"I'm not going. I don't want to be rude, but I would appreciate if you two just left me alone for now."

"I don't believe this," Sharon muttered, walking out of the room.

Mary Anne turned to Dawn, but before she could say anything, Dawn turned away, effectively shutting her out. Feeling helpless, Mary Anne wiped away a tear and walked out of the room. She had no idea what was going on with Dawn at this point, and she was actually starting to lose interest.


	11. Chapter 10

Mary Anne sat in homeroom waiting for the bell to ring, and class to begin. There was so much going on at home that she desperately wanted and needed something that would take her mind off things. At this point, even algebra would be a welcome distraction. She craned her neck, trying to spot Kristy in the hallway. Instead, she saw Logan making out with Miranda Shillabar against a row of lockers. She grimanced. That was the last thing that she needed to see right now.

Luckily, Kristy walked in the classroom at just that moment, and slid into her seat. Though she outwardly appeared normal, Mary Anne could tell that something was up.

"Good morning," Mary Anne greeted Kristy. "How are things going today?"

"There's a lot going on. We'll talk about it at lunch, okay?

The bell then rang, signaling the start of the school day.

"Where's Dawn?" Kristy asked "If she's not in here with us, she must be in Abby's homeroom. Or is she still in the office filling out paperwork?"

"We'll talk about that at lunch too," Mary Anne whispered.

"Okay," Kristy whispered back.

Ms. Faller, their homeroom teacher, walked over the where Mary Anne and Kristy were seated. Mary Anne squirmed in her seat, thinking that they were about to be scolded for talking after the bell rang.

"Mary Anne, you're supposed to report the main office during your study period today," Ms Faller said.

"Is there any reason?" Mary Anne asked, her voice wavering. She had never been called down to the office before.

"I'm not sure," Ms. Faller admitted. "But I'm sure you're not in any kind of trouble, Mary Anne. Don't worry about it."

"Okay, thanks," Mary Anne replied. Still, this didn't calm her fears. She knew that she would be nervous until she found out what was going on. She turned to Kristy, who shrugged, with a confused look on the face. When the two of the walked out of homeroom to their respective classes, she gave Mary Anne a reassuring pat on the back.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. I'll see you at lunch."

Mary Anne continued to worry throughout her World History and English classes. Finally, it was her study period, and she headed down to the office with a lump in her throat.

Mary Anne walked up to the desk where the school secretary sat.

"Hi, um, I'm Mary Anne Spier. Ms. Faller told me to come down here during my study period."

"You can have a seat over there," she said, pointing to some chairs lined up in front of the windows, where Julie Stern was already sitting. She didn't know Julie very well, but she didn't seem like the type to get into trouble either. At least she wasn't alone.

'Do you know why we were called here?" Mary Anne asked Julie

"I'm not sure, but Emily Berstein said that she was coming too," Julie responded.

Just as Julie said this, Emily walked through the office door and joined Mary Anne and Julie by the windows.

"Good, you're all here," said the secretary. Mrs. Ochs will be with you in just a few mintues.

Mary Anne knew that Mrs. Ochs was the head of academics at Stoneybrook High, but she had never met her. A straight "A" student, she had never had the need to. She looked over at Emily and Julie, and saw that they had the same quizzical looks on their faces.

"Maybe we're getting some kind of award," Emily said.

Mary Anne rolled her eyes. Emily was the classic overachiever- she was editor of the newspaper, sophomore class president, and a member of the French club. She was nice enough, but hard for Mary Anne to stomach sometimes.

Emily and Julie, who were in the same group of friends, started talking while the three of them waited. They weren't intentionally ignoring Mary Anne, it was just that they didn't know her very well. Mary Anne knew this, but it hurt her a little nonetheless. Thankfully, she didn't have much time to dwell on it, as Mrs. Ochs walked into the office a few minutes later.

"Hi girls, thanks for coming," Mrs. Ochs said, greeting them warmly. "I bet you're wondering why you're here."

"Yes ma'am," Emily said. Mary Anne nodded, while Julie shrugged her shoulders.

'Well it's nothing to worry about," Mrs. Ochs continued. "You girls are exactly the type of students that we pride ourselves in here at SHS. In fact, that's why I've called you down here today. We're starting up a peer tutoring network, and we would like to know if you three would be the representatives from the sophomore class.

The three girls looked at each other for a moment, and all nodded in agreement. Mary Anne was obviously relieved.

"I just knew this would work out!" Mrs. Ochs exclaimed, beaming. She then handed each of the girls an envelope.

"Inside your envelopes you will find the names of the two students you have been assigned. Also, the general program guidelines have been included. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. Otherwise, you can return to your study halls. Thanks again."

As she didn't have any questions, Mary Anne received a pass from the secretary, and walked upstairs to her study hall. Once in her seat, she opened the envelope that Mrs. Ochs had handed her. She was very curious about whom she had been assigned to tutor. She hoped it wasn't anyone too popular.

The first name on the list was Howie Johnson. That wasn't bad. She didn't know Howie that well, but they had been in school together for years. Though he was somewhat immature, he was generally a nice guy. The second name was Claudia Kishi. This made Mary Anne smile, remembering her goal for the school year. She knew that it would be a quite a task tutoring Claudia, as she was severely challenged academically. However, it might be just the thing that would bring them closer together, perhaps to the point of restoring their friendship.

Finally, Mary Anne let herself relax. It felt almost like she had been holding her breath since Ms. Faller had informed her of the meeting in the main office. Now that this was out of her way, she had time to think about the more pressing things that were going on in her life. She could tell that Kristy had something important to tell her at lunch, and she wasn't sure if it was going to be good or bad. And of course, she was worried about whatever was going on with Dawn, though at this point, Dawn was making it somewhat difficult to worry about her. Frustrated as she was, Mary Anne wouldn't give up on her sister.

Mary Anne pulled out the beginning of an English essay she was writing on _ The Scarlet Letter_. She worked on this for about fifteen minutes, until the bell rang, and it was time for her to meet Kristy for lunch. They had quickly fallen into a routine where they would meet in the downstairs hallway in front of the trophy cases, and take their bag lunches outside to eat in the courtyard. Mary Anne liked the solitude this gave them. They both needed space where they could be alone with their thoughts, or rather, together with their thoughts, for at least part of the school day.

Neither Kristy nor Mary Anne said anything until they reached the picnic table under the maple tree that they had claimed as their own.

"You won't believe what happened this morning," Mary Anne started to say.

"I can't believe what is happening now," Kristy said at the same time.

Mary Anne and Kristy looked at each other and grinned.

"You first," they said in unison.

As was the case in their childhood, Kristy took this opportunity to take charge. She started talking before Mary Anne could even think of it.

"Watson is being released from the rehabilitation center tomorrow," she began.

"That's great, isn't it?" Mary Anne questioned

"Kind of," Kristy replied. "He's going to be staying in a hotel room for about a month, which I knew was going to happen. That's not the problem. It's just that…"

Kristy paused for a moment here, and Mary Anne could tell that she didn't want to go on. She gave Kristy a quick hug, something that the old Kristy never would have accepted. Now she welcomed it, and Mary Anne could tell that she needed it more than ever.

"I heard mom and Nannie talking last night. I had come down to the kitchen to get a glass of water, and I guess that they thought that all of us kids were asleep. Mom was telling Nannie that the counseling she and Watson are going to isn't really going very well. Even though Watson was never officially going to come home right away, mom wants to have a permanent separation for six months, and then decide what to do from there."

Kristy was shaking as she was talking, and it looked to Mary Anne like she was about to break down at any second.

"Mary Anne, what if they decide to get a divorce? Would I ever get to see Karen and Andrew? And what about Emily Michelle? I don't know if I could take another divorce!"

At this point, Kristy burst into tears, and wrapped her arms around herself. She didn't accept the hug that Mary Anne tried to give her. Wordlessly, Mary Anne reached into her backpack and pulled out a packet of tissues. She was always prepared for a crying jag, though it was normally herself that she had to worry about. She handed a tissue to Kristy, who used it to dab her eyes.

Mary Anne didn't know exactly what she was supposed to say to Kristy. Nothing really seemed fitting. Instead, they sat together for the remainder of the lunch period, picking at their meals and individually reflecting on what was going on in their respective lives. Mary Anne knew that this was one of those times where Kristy would appreciate her silent support more than anything. Mary Anne never did tell Kristy what had happened that morning with Dawn. It was probably better that way.


	12. Chapter 11

Mary Anne looked at her watch again. It was Wednesday afternoon, and she was supposed to meet Claudia and Howie in the Stoneybrook High School library for their first tutoring session at 3:30. It was 3:35, and so far neither of them had shown up yet. If this was in any way indicative of how the rest of the tutoring session would go, it was going to be a challenge.

Before Mary Anne could get too frustrated, Claudia pulled up a chair to the table she was sitting in. Claudia wore a jean skirt, light pink leg warmers, and a hot pink tank top. She had on a white half sweater on top of the tank top. As usual, this was an outfit that Mary Anne wouldn't have even considered for herself, but it looked great on Claudia.

"Hey Claud,"

"I'm so happy that I was assigned to you for tutoring, Mary Anne. When Mrs. Ochs told me about this I was worried that I would get stuck with Emily Bernstein." Claudia wrinkled her nose. "She's kind of scary when it comes to school and grades. Last week, I saw her almost pepper spray Pete Black when he borrowed her biology flashcards. She said he was assaulting her intelligence."

"Wow," Mary Anne responded. Again, she wondered what went through Emily's head on a daily basis.

"So is it just the two of us, or is there someone else coming?" Claudia asked

"Howie Johnson is supposed to be here too. You're both in the same English class, right?"

"Let's just say that I have quite the history with Howie Johnson," Claudia responded, smiling.

Mary Anne looked at her quizzically. She was about to ask Claudia to elaborate on that, but Howie choose that moment to walk into the library. Hopefully she would find out what Claudia was talking about later. She was getting really sick of being out of the loop. It was about time someone told her what was going on.

Once Howie arrived and sat down, the remainder of the tutoring session went quickly. Claudia and Howie were reading _To Kill a Mockingbird_ in their English class, and both needed help beginning the essay they were assigned to write. They both needed a lot of help. Mary Anne winced when Claudia referred to Boo Radley as 'The ghost who lived next door.'

"Should we meet again on Monday then?" Mary Anne asked.

Claudia and Howie looked at each other, and then they each nodded. Howie took off quickly, saying something about needed to met up with Alan Gray before getting home for dinner.

"Thanks for all the help Mary Anne. My paper is going to be a lot better now that I know Scout's not a boy. I mean seriously, who would name their daughter that?"

"I'm not sure Claud," Mary Anne said quickly. "Did you want to go get something at the Rosebud Café? I don't have to be home for about an hour."

"I'd love to Mary Anne, I need to get home. Janine won another award for being a genius, and my family is going out to dinner to celebrate. Maybe we could on Monday though."

"That sounds good. I'll see you later."

"Bye Mary Anne."

Mary Anne gathered her things together. For some reason, she wasn't too disappointed that Claudia had turned her down. Even though she still wished in her heart that they could be friends, she had an awful lot going on right now. Maybe she and Claudia weren't meant to be good friends. She grimaced, thinking of Claudia's study habits. Maybe they could just be casual acquaintances, and that would be okay.

Leaving the building, Mary Anne was about to start walking home, until she heard someone call her name.

She turned around, and saw Dawn sitting on the steps leading up to Stoneybrook High School. Sharon and Richard had forced her to come to school today under duress and threats of boarding school in New Hampshire.

"Why are you still here?" Mary Anne asked.

"I guess I've been waiting for you. There are some things that I need to talk to you about," Dawn said softly, "but I'm not quite sure how to begin."

"That's okay," Mary Anne replied, "you can take your time."

The two of them started walking home slowly. Neither of them said anything for awhile. Mary Anne could tell that Dawn was working her way up to something, and she didn't want to interrupt.

"I guess it all really started at the beginning of the last school year," Dawn began. "I was spending most of my time hanging out with Sunny, Ducky, and Amalia. Maggie wasn't around much, because she was really sick at that point."

Mary Anne nodded, remembering how worried Dawn had been about Maggie at this time last year.

"My friends in California are nothing like everyone here," Dawn continued. "Sunny was wild during eighth grade, and it only got worse once her mom died. Amalia isn't as wild, but she is willing to try anything. And Ducky is great, but he's older than all of us. So by hanging out with him so much, we all kind of felt like we were older too, you know?"

Mary Anne just nodded her head, even though she didn't really know what Dawn was talking about. Her problem last year hadn't been what kind of friends that she had, but the fact that she didn't have friends in general. Dawn's problems seemed a world away.

"I started going to parties fairly often. For the most part, they were relatively tame, but at the end of last summer, one of them was busted by the cops. I got caught with pot."

The words hung in the air, and Mary Anne could tell that Dawn was waiting for a response. Even though she had heard this already from Sharon, it made it so much more real coming from Dawn. She really didn't know what to say.

"I'm not going to lie, Dawn. I didn't expect that from you. Drug use is not something that I respect," Mary Anne said simply.

Dawn nodded her hear sadly. "It's not something that I ever thought I would find myself doing either. But things happen, I guess. I only actually did it three times, including the time that I was caught," Dawn continued. "Dad and Carol were pretty cool about the whole thing, actually. They grounded me for a little while, but they eventually stopped paying attention to what I was doing. They're just so absorbed with Gracie that they sometimes forget about Jeff and I. So I do know what it's like being ignored, even at home."

Mary Anne was momentarily taken aback by this. It did make sense that Jack and Carol would be wrapped up in the new family that they created with Gracie, just as her dad and Sharon were wrapped up in each other. Poor Dawn wasn't receiving the love and attention she needed from either of her families.

They were passing Bradford court now. She and Dawn both looked up at the window to Claudia's room at the same time, then turned and smiled at each other.

"That's not the big thing, though, is it?" Mary Anne asked. If it was, she was sort of disappointed. She didn't know what would cause Dawn to seek refuge on the other side of the country, but she didn't think that it would be a need for attention. After all, she hadn't gone anywhere yet.

"I wish that was it," Dawn said sadly. "Anyway, once Dad and Carol stopped monitoring where I was going all the time, I could do anything I wanted to again. Right before school started, Sunny and Ducky convinced me to go to an end of summer party that Justin Randal was throwing. I was a little hesitant, but Justin's a cool guy, and he promised that the party was going to be small, so I wasn't too worried."

They were walking up the driveway to the house now. Mary Anne was glad to see that neither Sharon or her dad were home yet. She didn't want them to interrupt what she and Dawn had going on. It was still warm out for Connecticut, so they sat on the steps and continued their conversation.

"There were only about fifteen people at Justin's, which made me feel safe. I ended up smoking a joint, as well as drinking a lot. And, no, you don't need to lecture me. I know that what I did was stupid," Dawn said.

"I know," Mary Anne replied.

"Anyway, sometime around midnight I was completely wasted. Sunny was too. She had more to drink than I did, but she always does," Dawn paused. She quite obviously did not want to say anything else.

"Go on," Mary Anne encouraged.

"I don't know how it happened, but I ended up kissing Sunny." Dawn hesitated. "And it wasn't just a little kiss, Mary Anne. We ended up making out. I'm so embarrassed and ashamed." She hung her head.

"Wow," Mary Anne said. She wanted to say something that would comfort Dawn, but she needed to take everything in and process it first.

"When I realized what happened, I made Ducky bring me right home. The next day, I started working on Mom and Dad to let me come back here. I haven't talked to Sunny since."

Mary Anne reached over and gave her sister a hug. Her mind was racing, she certainly hadn't expected Dawn to confess to this. But whatever she thought about the situation, she could certainly tell that Dawn was hurting.

"So you're running from Sunny?" Mary Anne asked softly.

"I guess," Dawn said. "I just thought that nothing would ever be the same between us again. I didn't know if I could ever face her. And I really did miss Stoneybrook, so I figured that this would be a good place to hide out for a little while. Also, I missed you."

"Really?"

"Of course," Dawn responded.

"Why didn't you want to go to school then?" Mary Anne asked. "That has nothing to do with Sunny."

Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know really. I'm just tired. I know that people think that I am weird because I move back and forth so much, and I didn't really want to put up with that. It wasn't so bad though, I guess."

"So school went okay today?" Mary Anne asked.

"Yeah, it wasn't bad. I have a ton of homework to catch up on though. Abby is in my science and history classes though. She said that she would help me catch up if I wanted."

"That was nice of her," Mary Anne replied. She was surprised. Abby and Dawn barely knew each other, they had only met two or three times. Besides, she wasn't too fond of Abby after she dropped Kristy when she had needed a friend the most. She didn't mention any of this to Dawn, though. It would come in time.

"It's going to be different being back here. But I think I can make it work. I'm not really sure I have another choice right now." Dawn giggled. "Besides boarding school in New Hampshire, I suppose."

"No way!" exclaimed Mary Anne. "That last thing I need is for you to come home a glittery snob like Mallory. Seriously though, I'm here for you if you need help with your homework, or if you just want to talk."

"Thanks Mary Anne."

Dawn stood up, and walked up the steps to the porch.

"Dawn?"

"Yeah."

"Call Sunny. She'll be there for you too."

Without saying anything, Dawn walked into the house. Maybe she wasn't ready to take that step yet.

Mary Anne still wasn't sure what she thought of everything that Dawn had told her. Situations like that were so far out of her range of experience that she couldn't really make a judgment.

Mary Anne stood up and walked into the house. She walked right by the note on the counter that undoubtedly said that her father and Sharon would be gone for the rest of the night. The thought didn't upset her like it had a few weeks ago. Together, she and Dawn didn't make up a family by any means, but it had to count for something.


	13. Chapter 12

Mary Anne sat in her last class of the day on Friday afternoon. She loved school, but it had been a long week, and she was dying for it to be over. She anxiously watched the second hand on the clock tick, and waited for the bell to ring. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the final bell rang signaling the end of classes and the start of the weekend. Mary Anne quickly went to her locker and retrieved the books that she would need for the weekend. She had a big biology test next week, and she had a lot to do to be prepared for it. Though she was still an excellent student, she hadn't been putting as much effort into her studies since Dawn had moved back.

She was really glad it was Friday. Her dad and Sharon had gone to Boston to visit old friends. Mary Anne wasn't sure that they had been married long enough to have old friends, but she didn't care enough to ask questions. She and Dawn had planned a girl's night for themselves. They were going to make goat cheese pizza, which was pretty much the only meal that they could agree on, and then watch movies all night. Mary Anne was going to do what she could to convince Dawn to call Sunny so they could get things back on track.

Mary Anne walked down to the first floor where Dawn's locker was located. Sure enough, there was her sister, leaning against the lockers laughing. She was deep in a conversation with Abby, and didn't even notice Mary Anne until she tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey Mary Anne! Happy Friday!" Dawn exclaimed

"Hi Mary Anne," said Abby.

"Hi Abby," Mary Anne responded. She turned to look at Dawn. "So, are you ready for tonight? It's going to be great!"

"You bet I am! I need to spend all day Saturday and Sunday catching up on homework, so tonight needs to be amazing to prepare me for that."

"It will be," Mary Anne promised.

"Great! You don't mind if Abby spends the night and hangs out with us, do you?" Dawn asked, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. "She is going to help me catch up on homework tomorrow, and I thought it would be fun if she stayed over tonight."

"That would be fine, I guess." Mary Anne replied. Honestly, she felt a little hurt. She had been looking forward to spending the night with just Dawn. And truthfully, she didn't really like Abby that much. They hadn't been that great of friends while they were members of the Babysitter's Club, and their relationship had only grown more strained since the club disbanded. At this rate, she figured that she was in for a tough night. Maybe Kristy could come over and hang out with them. Dad and Sharon hadn't exactly said that they could have friends over, but it's not like they would be around to notice anyway.

"Abby and I are going to pick up some snacks for tonight. She has her mom's credit card, so we can get whatever. Is there anything that you want?" Dawn asked

"Nope," Mary Anne responded, shaking her head. "I'm sure whatever you get will be fine."

"Great, then we'll see you later," Dawn said.

"Bye Mary Anne," Abby chimed in.

"Bye," Mary Anne said weakly, but Dawn and Abby were already half way down the hall.

She wondered why exactly Abby had latched on to Dawn. Last year, it had been all about Kristy and Abby, who had lived for the sports that they played all year round. But somehow that had changed. Abby wasn't even on a sports team right now, which was unusual, and she knew that she hadn't talked to Kristy since the summer. Kristy had never said why, and she had never asked. She had been so happy about being Kristy's friend again that she didn't want to jeopardize that by bringing up someone else. It was as if she was afraid that one day Kristy would realize what was going on, and drop her again. Two years later, and Mary Anne was just as insecure as ever.

Mary Anne walked out to the parking lot, hoping to find Kristy before she and Sam left school. She looked around straining her eyes for the Junk Bucket, until someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"What are you doing?" asked Kristy

"Looking for you," Mary Anne replied. "I'm glad that I found you before you left with Sam."

"You don't have to worry about that today," Kristy said, grimacing. "Sam told me that I need to find my own way home. He left with Stacey a few minutes ago. As they were leaving the parking lot, she threw her bra out the window."

"Ew."

"Yeah, I know. I can't believe Stacey's changed so much. She used to be so responsible," Kristy bemoaned. "Anyway, why were you looking for me? I thought that you were hanging out with Dawn tonight."

"There's been a change of plans. Kind of, anyway. Dawn invited Abby to spend the night with us."

"Why Abby?" Kristy asked, puzzled. "They barely know each other."

"You guess is as good as mine. But since I don't really want to hang out with just the two of them tonight, would you please come over and spend the night too? I need someone to hang out with."

"I don't know Mary Anne. Abby's not exactly on my favorite person list these days. I don't think I could take a whole night of her."

"Please? For me?" Mary Anne pleaded

"I guess," Kristy said reluctantly. "Let me call Nannie first though, and make sure that she doesn't need me at home."

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you," Mary Anne said, while Kristy pulled out her cell phone. Even though her family was falling apart, there were still some benefits to being the step daughter of a millionaire.

Kristy hung up the phone. "Both Nannie and Mom are going to be home tonight, so they said I can go over to your house, and someone will drop off some clothes for me later. You owe me Mary Anne."

"I know, I know. It's worth it though. Thanks again."

The two girls set off from Stoneybrook High School in the direction of Burnt Hill Road.

While they were walking, they saw Jamie Newton playing outside with his sister, Lucy. Shortly thereafter they saw Vanessa Pike and Haley Braddock riding bikes together. Neither Mary Anne or Kristy babysat much anymore, so it was nice to see their former clients every once in awhile. Everyone was growing up, finally, when it seemed they had remained the same ages for the longest time.

Finally they arrived at Mary Anne and Dawn's house. Mary Anne stopped to check the mail, but instead found a turnip and a tube of toothpaste in the box. She sighed. Sharon must have tried to mail a letter again. It really was a wonder that the bills ever got paid.

She and Kristy dropped off their back packs in the front entryway, and were making their way to the kitchen when Abby and Dawn came running into the house.

"Are you ready Mary Anne? It's party time!" Abby exclaimed. Suddenly, both Abby and Dawn stopped in their tracks, seeing Kristy.

"What are you doing here?" They asked in unison.

"Mary Anne invited me," Kristy said, addressing Abby. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No…" Abby said, uncertainly.

While the four girls were standing together awkwardly in the hallway, the door bell rang. Mary Anne rushed to the door, thankful for the interruption. She opened the door to find Elizabeth Thomas-Brewer standing on the doorstep.

"Hi Mary Anne," Elizabeth said. "It sure is nice to see you again. You too Dawn and Abby."

"Thanks for the clothes, Mom," Kristy said, reaching for the duffle bag that Elizabeth had brought over. "Tell the kids I love them, and that I will see them tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure thing honey. Oh I wish I had a camera. It's just so nice that all you girls are spending time together again. Have a great time. Bye girls"

"Bye Mom," Kristy said pointedly.

"Bye."

As soon as Elizabeth walked out the door, the four girls broke out in laughter. Mary Anne was glad that Elizabeth had broken the ice with her cheesy sentiments. Even though they were a little over the top, Mary Anne knew how she felt. Tonight was going to be without a doubt awkward, but at the same time, she was glad that they were all spending time together again.

"Kristy, your mom is too much," said Dawn, laughing.

"I know," Kristy said, her cheeks turning red with embarrassment. "She always says stuff like that.

"Seriously though, it's cool," Dawn continued. "It's kind of nice to have freedom and to not worry about parents, but I really wish that I had someone who would pay me that kind of attention once in awhile."

Mary Anne and Abby nodded in agreement.

"Well, the grass is always greener," Kristy said, brushing off the comment. Mary Anne could tell that she didn't want to talk about emotional things tonight. Same old Kristy.

Mary Anne broke the silence. "Dawn and I had planned on making pizza and watching movies tonight, but I know that I'm open to suggestions."

After hearing this, Dawn and Abby looked at each other and tried to contain their grins.

"What do the two of you have planned?" Kristy asked warily.

Dawn just smiled as she watched Abby reached into her backpack and pull out a small bag of pot.


	14. Chapter 13

"Is that what I think it is?" Kristy asked alarmed, her eyes bulging.

"Well I guess that depends on what you think it is," Abby said. She and Dawn looked at each other and laughed.

"I can't believe you Abigail Stevenson. Getting caught last summer and kicked out of sports for a year wasn't enough for you? Now you want to drag everyone else down with you? I knew this sleepover was a bad idea. Come on, Mary Anne, let's go to your room." Kristy said

"What are they going to do to me now Kristy? I can't play sports for a year. We just wanted to have some fun," Abby responded defensively.

Up to this point, Mary Anne had been watching the scene play itself out silently. She turned to look directly at Dawn. "I thought you said that everything that you did last year was a mistake. I thought that you wanted to start over," she said, her eyes starting to well up with tears.

"Mary Anne, all of that was true, I meant it. Abby and I just thought that we could have one night of fun. There's so much going on right now, that we need something to help us forget about our problems for a little bit. You could forget about your problems too," Dawn said, encouragingly.

"Mary Anne, don't listen to her," Kristy said. "Let's go upstairs to your room and forget about everyone down here. We could even go to my house, if you wanted. You could spend the night there."

Mary Anne looked back and forth between Kristy and Dawn. At one point, these were her two best friends. Now Kristy was the best friend that she had, but that wasn't quite the same as a best friend. Dawn was her sister and sometimes confidante. How was she to know who she was supposed to listen to? She didn't want to make anyone mad. The confusion she felt at this moment, afraid to do anything that would cause her to lose any friends, reminded her of how she felt when she truly didn't have any friends, which wasn't so long ago. Even though things had gotten much better for her since then, the ache that had come to be that time hadn't completely gone away.

She turned to Dawn. "I'll try it."

"Alright Mary Anne!" Abby exclaimed.

Dawn took the bag that Abby had been holding. "You'll like it Mary Anne, I promise."

Just then Kristy reached out and grabbed the bag from Dawn's hands. She took it and ran to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. A few seconds later, they all heard the toilet flush. The door opened, and Kristy walked out of the bathroom, smirking.

"Don't worry, you can thank me for that later."

"Kristy, you idiot!" Abby yelled, infuriated. "Do you have any idea how much that cost?"

"Do you have any idea how much I don't care?" Kristy responded. She pulled out her wallet and threw two twenties in Abby's direction. They landed softly at her feet. Kristy turned to Mary Anne.

"I know that you've had a rough couple of months, and you would like to make it all go away, but drugs aren't going to make it any better," Kristy said, looking straight into Mary Anne's eyes.

Before Mary Anne could respond, Dawn walked over to Kristy and shoved her, making her take a step backward.

"God Kristy, what the hell did you do that for? I don't come over to your house and flush your stuff down the toilet."

"I was looking out for your sister, which is something that you should consider doing sometime. She's spent that last three weeks doing nothing but worry about you," Kristy responded.

Abby took this moment to enter the conversation. "Say whatever you want Kristy, but playing the martyr isn't going to make your life better." She rolled her eyes. "Come on Dawn, let's get out of here."

Dawn turned to Mary Anne and shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry Mary Anne. I'll see you later."

With that Dawn and Abby left the house, leaving Kristy and Mary Anne standing alone together in the entryway. As soon as the door was completely shut, Mary Anne burst into tears, and fell into Kristy's arms.

"I'm sorry Kristy, I don't know what I was thinking," Mary Anne said, gasping for breathe between her sobs.

"You weren't thinking, that was the problem." Even when Kristy was trying to be comforting, she was still as harsh as ever. "Don't worry about it. Nothing happened, and we're all fine."

The girls remained in the entryway holding each other for a few more minutes. Finally, Mary Anne pulled away, and brushed the tears out of her eyes.

"Thanks Kristy," she said simply.

"No problem," Kristy replied.

With this, Mary Anne went to the bathroom to wash her face, and Kristy went to the kitchen to see about putting something together for dinner. They didn't talk about it for the rest of the night.

-----------------------------------------------

The next morning, Mary Anne and Kristy slept late, and lounged around after breakfast. They gossiped about what was going on at school, but neither of them mentioned the fact that Dawn and Abby hadn't returned last night. Around eleven, Kristy called for a ride home and Elizabeth pulled into the driveway shortly thereafter. Karen was in the front seat of the Range Rover, admiring herself in a hand mirror.

After Kristy left, Mary Anne brought out her backpack and started studying for her upcoming biology test. Since Dawn had moved back, she had chosen at times to forego her studies in order to spend more time with her sister. She doubted that she would be making that mistake again.

Mary Anne made flashcards for biology and worked on her other homework for the next few hours.  
Around three, she heard the front door open, and Dawn walked in. She was wearing the same clothes that she had on yesterday, and she had dark circles under her eyes. As she walked through the hallway and up to her room, Mary Anne heard her laugh silently to herself.

Mary Anne was torn. One part of her wanted to forget everything that had happened the night before in efforts to avoid losing the little closeness that she and Dawn had gained since she had returned. On the other hand, there was so much that she wanted to talk to Dawn about. Even though she hated Dawn for bringing drugs into the house, she hated herself more for even considering partaking in them.

Sighing, Mary Anne rose from her chair, and started walking upstairs. No matter what was going on between her and Dawn, she knew that they had to resolve, to a point at least. If her dad and Sharon didn't plan on ever being home and even pretending to be a family, Dawn was the only thing that she had. And she couldn't exactly let go of that.

She walked down the hallway and knocked on Dawn's door. "Dawn?" Mary Anne asked, hesitantly.

There was no response on the other side of the door. Mary Anne knocked again.

A few seconds later, Dawn opened the door. She had changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt that said "Respect Your Planet." She looked exhausted. Behind her, Mary Anne could see a pile of books on her desk, an unmade bed, and clothes strewn about the room. The mess seemed to be quite the accomplishment for someone who had only taken up residence in the room two weeks ago.

"Did you have fun with Abby last night?" Mary Anne asked, timidly.

"Yeah, it was a good time. Sorry for ditching you," Dawn said stiffly.

"It's okay. Kristy and I had fun anyway." Mary Anne responded. The words hung in the air between them. There didn't seem to be much else to say.

Finally, Dawn broke the silence. "I need to take a nap. I didn't really sleep much last night."

"Okay. Let me know when you wake up. Maybe we can watch a movie or something."

"Maybe," Dawn said. "Abby said that she might call me tonight, but we don't have any real plans."

"Oh. Okay. I guess I'll let you sleep then."

"Thanks."

Mary Anne turned to walk back downstairs as Dawn closed the door behind her. An ache started to slowly grow inside of her; at this point she didn't know if she and Dawn would ever be close again. She didn't even know if the person that Dawn had become was one that she particularly wanted to be close to. Sure she had Kristy, which certainly counted, but somehow it wasn't good enough.

She had spent the entire last year wishing that she had just one friend to confide in and help to ease her loneliness. She hadn't in anyway imagined that the ache inside of her would still be there when she got her wish.


	15. Chapter 14

"Mary Anne?"

Dawn's voice broke into Mary Anne's dreams to rouse her from her sleep. She slowly opened her eyes. She lifted up her head, and saw that she had been sleeping on her biology notebook with an uncapped pink highlighter in her hand. She must have fallen asleep studying for her test. She knew that she wasn't the most exciting person in the world, but normally even she did something more interesting on a Saturday night.

"What time is it?" She asked Dawn groggily.

"It's just after seven. Now wake up. I'm going to make up for ditching you yesterday. We're going to spend the whole night together. And this time Kristy Thomas isn't going to be here to ruin the fun before it begins."

Mary Anne rubbed her eyes, still in the process of waking up. "What are we doing?" she asked.

"You and I are going out. Come on, get up. We need to go upstairs and find something for you to wear," Dawn said.

Begrudgingly, Mary Anne followed Dawn upstairs to her room. She watched Dawn open up her tidy closet and inspect every article of clothing that she owned.

"Too baggy, too old, too long, too dark." Dawn turned to Mary Anne. "Everything that you own is so _Connecticut. _We need something that makes you look hot, but isn't too showy at the same time. Something California Casual. Come on, let's go take a look in my closet."

Dawn walked swiftly through the bathroom that connected their rooms. She opened her closet, and began rifling through the piles of clothes that were on the floor. She finally emerged with a pair of black pants and a sea green halter top.

"This will be perfect," Dawn announced.

Mary Anne looked at the top hesitantly. "Are you sure? There's practically no back on this."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "You're fifteen Mary Anne. It's about time you started dressing like it. Now go change- Abby's going to be here in half an hour, and we still need to do your make-up."

"Where are we even going?"

"A party," Dawn replied, "Abby has it all planned out. Go make yourself pretty!"

Mary Anne walked back to her room and began to change into the clothes that Dawn had given her. They were a little tight, as Dawn was thinner than she used to be, but they worked for the most part. She looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn't sure exactly how she felt about the reflection that was starting back at her. It definitely was unlike any other outfit that she had worn before, but at the same time she kind of liked what she saw. She felt kind of cool and grown up. Like she could handle whatever came her way. She liked that feeling.

Mary Anne spent the next half hour running between her room and Dawn's trying to figure out accessories and make up. That wasn't really her thing, but she tried her best anyway. She had no idea what this night would entail, and she found herself becoming rather excited. She never went out like this on the weekends. For once, she appreciated the fact that her dad and Sharon didn't exactly play theie parental roles.

As she was applying some of Dawn's glitter lip gloss, she heard a car honk twice in the driveway. Looking out the window, she was Abby waving at her, grinning. She turned to look at Dawn. "Abby has a car?" She asked, confused.

"Cary Retlin has a car," Dawn corrected. "Not him actually, but his parents. They're out of town for the weekend, so he's borrowing it. He's the one who is bringing us to the party at Erica's."

The amount of friends and connections that Dawn had made in her short time back at Stoneybrook High made Mary Anne's head spin. Something like hesitation came over her, and she didn't immediately follow Dawn as she bounded down the stairs.

"Come on Mary Anne!" shouted Dawn.

Ignoring her slight misgivings about the situation, Mary Anne picked up her purse and headed downstairs to join Dawn. Making sure the front door was locked behind her, she joined Abby and Dawn, who were hugging like they had been separated for years instead of hours in the driveway. The three of them climbed into the back seat of the SUV. Mary Anne was surprised to see Alan Gray in the front seat, along with Cary. Basically, she was in the car with her sister and three people that she hadn't talked to since eighth grade. She took a deep breath.

About ten minutes later, Cary pulled over about a block away from Erica Blumberg's house. Cars were lined up on both sides of the streets. This was somewhat confusing to Mary Anne, as hardly any one in the sophomore class could drive, and it was unlikely that everyone had 'borrowed' their parents cars like Cary. Her stomach turned at the idea of going to a party with upperclassmen.

A few houses away, Mary Anne could hear the bass from the music playing at Erica's. Cary lead everyone around the house and walked in the back door. Stepping into the kitchen, Mary Anne saw that the house was packed with at least half the sophomore class present, along with many juniors and seniors. Most people were standing around talking in small groups, but she saw Pete Black, Sheila McGregor, Shawna Riverson, and Robert Brewster playing twister in the corner of the living room. After a few moments of soaking up the atmosphere of the party, Mary Anne realized that almost everyone was holding a red plastic cup in their hand. Just as she was turning this thought around in her head, Cary and Alan returned to the group with drinks for everyone. Mary Anne looked at hers hesitantly, while everyone else took small drinks and began to carry on a conversation.

"What is it?" Mary Anne asked Dawn and Abby. She had to shout to be heard above the music.

"Wop," Abby replied, "it's really good, try it."

As if to affirm this, Dawn drank a few more sips of the drink, then raised her head to drain the glass.

"Mary Anne took a small sip. It wasn't so bad- it kind of tasted like kool-aid, actually. She took another drink, then another.

"Not bad," she said.

"I told you," Abby said, "next time you doubt me, remember this moment, okay?"

Dawn grinned. "All hail to Abby, queen of illegal substances."

"That's me," Abby replied, a smile on her face. "Come on, let's go play flippy cup."

"Only if we can get a refill first." Dawn turned to Mary Anne. "Drink up."

Mary Anne did as she was told, and handed her cup to Abby for a refill. She felt fine, so she saw no reason to turn it down. She drank down half of her newly refilled cup. Dawn and Abby were suddenly no where to be found, so she started walking around. After observing the party for about half an hour, and drinking two more glasses of wop, she found herself walking towards Erica, who was talking to Katie Shea.

"This is a great party Erica!" Mary Anne exclaimed, spilling a bit of the liquid that was in her cup.

"Thanks Mary Anne," Erica said, grinning. "Can I get you something else to drink?"

"Sure!"

Erica laughed and filled up Mary Anne's cup. "Do you want to try something else?"

"Only if it tastes good," Mary Anne replied.

"Is there someone here to take care of you? Who did you come with?"

"Dawn and Abby."

Erica turned to Katie. "Dawn's responsible, right?"

Katie shrugged. "She used to always talk about recycling and saving the rain forest."

'That counts," Erica decided. "Here you go Mary Anne!"

Mary Anne looked at the shot glass Erica handed her. Before she could think about it, she drank it all in one gulp. "Thanks!" she yelled over her shoulders. She wanted to go find Dawn and Abby.

"I can't believe I just saw Mary Anne Spier take a shot," Erica said, laughing as she walked away.

Mary Anne was still on her quest to find Abby, but stopped when she saw Howie Johnson and Alan Gray playing pool in Erica's game room.

"Howie!" she exclaimed. "Your essay that I read was _amazing!_"

"Wow. Um, thanks Mary Anne," he said, catching her as she stumbled a bit.

Mary Anne felt dizzy, so she stayed in Howie's arms to steady herself. She felt very safe. The room was starting to spin a little bit. Howie was being really nice.

She looked around the room. Howie and Alan were talking to each other and laughing, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She wanted to find Dawn and Abby, but she wasn't sure where they were, and even if she knew, she wasn't sure if she could get there.

Mary Anne looked up at Howie's face. He was so nice. She stood on her tiptoes to look into his eyes, because suddenly felt the need to know exactly what color they were.

Mary Anne then felt Howie's lips touch hers. Well she didn't exactly feel them, because everything felt fuzzy, but she knew what was happening. She hadn't kissed a boy since she had been dating Logan. She kind of missed it. She kissed him back.

"Mary Anne!" Dawn exclaimed "What are you doing?"

"Mamma Mia!" shouted Abby.

"I don't feel so good," Mary Anne muttered. She tore herself away from Howie, and fell into Dawn's arms. "Where does Erica keep her bathroom?"

"This way honey," Dawn said, leading her to the hallway. She turned to Abby. "How much did she drink?"

Abby shrugged her shoulders. "I've got no clue. I guess she's a lightweight."

Dawn led her into the bathroom, walking past Miranda Shillabar who was stumbling about, apparently looking for Logan.

Mary Anne knelt by the toilet. She felt Dawn pull her hair back, and then she threw up into the toilet. When she lifted her head, she let Abby give her some water and paper to wipe her mouth.

"I think it's time to go home now," Mary Anne said, trying to focus on her surroundings.

"I'll go find Cary," Abby offered.

"Don't worry Mary Anne, I'll take care of you," Dawn said soothingly.

A few minutes later Abby showed up in the bathroom, pulling Cary in with her.

"She puked?" he asked.

"Yeah." Dawn replied.

"Figures."

Mary Anne shot him a dirty look. What did he know?

Come on kid, let's get you home," Cary said.

Dawn and Abby helped walk her to the car, and they laid her down in the back seat. Cary gave her his sweater to use as a pillow, making her promise that she wouldn't throw up in the car.

In what seemed like no more than a minute, the car stopped and Dawn and Abby piled out. Cary said good bye. He was going back to the party.

"I want to go to bed," Mary Anne said definitively.

"We're getting you there, don't worry."

Dawn and Abby helped her out of the car, into the house, and up to her room and into her pajamas. She laid down in her bed. Abby set a glass of water on her night stand, and a trash can on the side of her bed.

"Are you going to be okay?" Dawn asked.

Mary Anne nodded. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

"Okay, good night then."

"Night Mary Anne," said Abby.

As Mary Anne nestled into her pillow she could hear Abby and Dawn talking and laughing in the next room. She tried to think about everything that had happened that night, but it didn't really work. She closed her eyes, and was asleep within moments.


	16. Chapter 15

Sunday morning Mary Anne woke up due to the sun streaming in through her windows. She has a pounding headache, and felt nauseous. What was wrong with her?

She saw the garbage can near the near the edge of her bed, and suddenly bits and pieces of the previous night came back to her. She vaguely remembered throwing up in Erica's bathroom and coming back to the house. She definitely remembered drinking a lot. She assumed that this was the reason for her pounding headache.

Groggily, Mary Anne sat up and walked slowly to the bathroom to find some Tylenol. She glanced at the digital clock that set on the bathroom counter and saw that it was already one thirty in the afternoon. Despite that fact that she had plenty of homework to do, in addition to studying for her biology test, she wasn't as alarmed as she would normally be. She wasn't quite in the mood for homework anyway.

Not really knowing what to do with herself, Mary Anne quietly eased the door to Dawn's room open. Dawn and Abby were crammed into one bed, despite the fact that the other twin bed in the room was empty but for piles and piles of clothes. Mary Anne tripped on a textbook that was on the floor, causing her to fall into the wall.

"Oh shit!" she yelled.

Hearing this, Dawn and Abby started stretching.

"Mary Anne? Is something wrong?" Dawn asked.

"No, sorry. I just wanted to see if you guys were up. I don't really feel that great. What exactly happened last night?"

Dawn's eyes opened wide. "Do you think that you're going to be sick again?"

"No, I'm just a little dizzy. And I have a headache," Mary Anne responded.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of drinking," Abby said, yawning.

"Thanks," Mary Anne said, rolling her eyes. "Can you guys maybe fill me in on what happened last night. I'm still a little fuzzy."

"We lost track of you when we went to go play flippy cup. By the time we found you, you were making out with Howie Johnson. Seriously, what was that about?" Dawn asked.

"I was doing what?" Mary Anne screeched

"You don't remember that?" Abby asked, laughing. "You two were really going at it!"

Mary Anne made a place for herself on the spare bed, and buried her face in the pillow. "No, no, no, no. Not Howie Johnson. I tutor him!"

"That's what happens when you drink too much, too fast," Dawn said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well I didn't exactly plan it," Mary Anne muttered. "Besides you said you would take care of me!"

"We did," Dawn replied. "Who do you think got you back home and into bed?"

"Watching you puke was really gross," Abby added. "But we did it anyway cause we're your friends."

"Thanks, I guess," Mary Anne said half-heartedly.

"Don't worry about it Mary Anne, last night was a good time," Dawn affirmed.

"Hey when are your parents coming home?" Abby asked.

Mary Anne and Dawn looked at each other. "Sometime tonight, I guess," Mary Anne said. "Where is your mom Abby? Hasn't she missed you this weekend?"

"She rents an apartment in New York somewhere near her office. She doesn't come home that often."

"Oh," Mary Anne said awkwardly. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Abby responded. "Lack of parental supervision makes life more interesting. You should know that."

Mary Anne did know that. However, she normally saw this as lonely, instead of interesting. Again, she was reminded of how different she and Abby were.

"I guess," Mary Anne responded.

"Well I hope you feel better Mary Anne," Dawn said, hurridly. "Abby and I need to work on some of the homework that I'm behind on."

"What?" asked Abby, looking puzzled.

Dawn shot her a look. "You said you would help me catch up on algebra and English, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Abby said, snickering.

Hungover or not, Mary Anne could take a hint. Without saying anything to Dawn or Abby, she walked back through the bathroom and into her own bedroom. Looking into the mirror, she was alarmed. Last night had not been kind to her. Appropriately, she looked about as good as she felt. She suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to take a shower.

She headed to the bathroom to shower and get ready for what was left for the day. She was blow drying her hair when Dawn started banging on her side of the bathroom door.

"Mary Anne!" She yelled.

Mary Anne turned off the blow dryer. "What?"

"Kristy called for you twice. You need to call her back right away, she says it's urgent. She sounds kind of mad."

Inwardly, Mary Anne groaned. News traveled quickly in small towns, and she was sure that Kristy had heard of her foray the night before. Mary Anne had no idea what she was going to say to her.

Opening the door, Mary Anne grabbed the cordless phone from Dawn and walked to her bedroom for some privacy.

"Hello?" She asked, hesitantly.

"Is it true?" Kristy asked, always one to get right down to the point.

"What are you talking about?" Mary Anne asked, though she of course knew what Kristy was getting at. She was trying to buy herself some time to come up with some sort of excuse or explanation.

"I heard that you got completely wasted at Erica Blumberg's house last night, ended up making out with Howie Johnson, and had to be practically carried home because you couldn't walk by yourself."

"Well I guess you pretty much hear right," Mary Anne confirmed. "Who told you?"

"Who hasn't told me? I swear, half of Stoneybrook High has called me this morning to either inform me of what you did last night, or to ask me why you did it. Or both."

"It wasn't my idea," Mary Anne said, weakly. "I just wanted to spend some time with Dawn."

"I figured as much. Why do you let her drag you into stuff like that?"

"Because she's my sister. And my friend."

"I'm not going to debate either of those statements Mary Anne, but just think about it. What has she done since she's been back in Stoneybrook to accommodate you into her life? It seems like you are the one who is doing anything and everything for her," Kristy said.

"I guess," Mary Anne responded. "But..."

"There are no ifs, ands, or buts, Mary Anne. I know that Dawn is your sister, and I know that you want her to be your friend. And she can be both of those things. But you can have both of these relationships without changing who you are. Dawn shouldn't ask you to. No one should."

What Kristy was saying made sense, and Mary Anne knew it. She just didn't know if she wanted to accept it just yet. She didn't want to think that she cared more about Dawn than Dawn did about her. And she really didn't want to think that Dawn wanted her to change would she was. Before she had moved back to California, Dawn had been a self proclaimed "individual," and had wanted everyone else to be able to say the same. So much had changed since then.

"I know that you're right," Mary Anne admitted. "But it's hard to accept. I have a lot of things that I need to think about before that happens. Thanks for not lecturing me."

"No problem. You already know everything that I would say anyway. But if it happens again, be prepared to listen to me lecture for longer than you'd like."

Both girls shared in a tense laughter. Neither of them was as okay with the situation as they wanted to come off.

"I need to go watch Andrew and Emily Michelle," Kristy said. "You do your thinking, and feel free to call me sometime tonight if you would like to talk or something. You can even come over here as some point if you need an escape."

"Thanks Kristy, have fun with the kids."

"Bye."

Mary Anne hung up the phone and sat down on her bed with the receiver in her hand. Her partially dry hair was cold and wet on her shoulders, but she didn't feel like returning to the bathroom to finish drying it. She didn't really feel like doing anything, actually.

She had so many thoughts running through her head that she was becoming dizzy. She didn't know if she should be ashamed of everything that happened last night, or proud of herself for letting loose for once. After all, the night hadn't been _horrible._ She hadn't had the best time in the world, and she had certainly done some things that she wasn't proud of, but for the most part she had come out unscathed. That had to count for something.

The only thing that really bothered Mary Anne about the whole situation was the way Dawn had acted about everything. While Dawn and Abby had taken care of her when she became sick, they had abandoned her at the party, leaving her to do God-knows-what with Howie Johnson. And she really didn't know what to read into Dawn's dismissal of her this morning. She didn't know what Dawn and Abby were doing, but she highly doubted it was anything school related.

Mary Anne wondered what Abby had that she didn't. Abby and Dawn had hardly known each other: they didn't have time same type of history that she had with Dawn. Yet somehow they had become the type of best friends that were almost one person. Mary Anne had spent the last year dreaming of that type of friendship. And even if she could come to terms with the fact that Dawn didn't want that from her, and that she didn't have that with Kristy, she wasn't sure how she felt about Abby having it. She had taken Kristy from her last year, and now she was taking Dawn. And Mary Anne somehow knew that Dawn wouldn't come back the way that Kristy had.

Deep in her heart, Mary Anne wanted to have a wonderful friendship with her sister, and she was willing to do almost anything to make that happen. However, she was starting to think that Dawn wasn't willing to do the same. She felt as though Dawn had let go of her, which hurt her in ways that she couldn't identify. Despite this, Mary Anne would go through a lot before she gave up on Dawn. Even if it meant more of this type of hurting.

At one point, Mary Anne had been on to sit back and watch things happen. Slowly, she was finding her way out of this habit. She would spend the rest of the day studying for her biology test, and then tonight, when Abby left, maybe she and Dawn could have a talk. It wasn't as if things were completely hopeless with her. Not yet anyway.


	17. Chapter 16

Around nine o'clock Sunday evening Mary Anne heard the garage door open, and her dad and Sharon drive in. Her mind was full of seemingly useless details about the Krebs Cycle and other things of the like in preparation for her upcoming biology test. Studying was hard work, even for a good student. It was made significantly harder than it should be this afternoon and evening, as she had had to block out the noise that Abby and Dawn had been making.

It in no small way irritated her that Abby had not gone home yet. Seriously, the two of them had not been separated all weekend. As they had just reunited a few days prior to that, it seemed a little extreme. Dawn and Abby had shut themselves in Dawn's room all afternoon, under the pretense of doing home work. Mary Anne was not fooled. She smelt something strange burning at one point, and heard laughing until they had tumbled out of Dawn's bedroom about an hour ago to make lasagna. Thankfully, this hadn't lasted long, and no huge mess had been made. The two of them had once again sequestered themselves in Dawn's room, leaving Mary Anne to worry and wonder just what the hell it was that they were doing.

Hearing her dad and Sharon walk into the kitchen, Mary Anne rose to go downstairs and greet them. To be honest, a part of her worried that maybe they had some how heard about what had happened last night. But that was impossible. She attempted to rid these thoughts from her head as soon as they came, which mostly worked, but a small part of her still worried. Walking into the kitchen, she put on a big smile to remind her dad and Sharon that she was the daughter that they didn't have to worry about.

"Hi dad, hi Sharon," She said brightly. "How was your weekend?"

"Great," Sharon responded. "I don't see why we don't go to New York more often!"

"Because you packed power tools and dish soap instead of clothes, and we can't afford to buy a new wardrobe every weekend," Richard said lightly.

"You're too much Richie!" Sharon replied.

Mary Anne just stared at the two of them. She wondered, as she often did, when exactly her father had changed into the man with whom this was permissible. Two years ago, he had organized his socks by color.

"It was a great time anyways," Richard said, gazing as Sharon. He turned to Mary Anne. "How was your weekend? Did you and Dawn find anything to keep yourselves occupied? And did Dawn get started on all of the homework that she has to catch up on?"

"We spent a lot of time together," Mary Anne said carefully. "Dawn has been upstairs with Abby all day. I guess they have a few classes together."

"That's what I like to hear. I won't have anyone shirking their responsibilities in this house."

Mary Anne rolled her eyes. She was the only one who in any way fulfilled her responsibilities in the house. If things kept up the way that they were going, Dawn would flunk out of school in about three weeks. And Richard and Sharon probably wouldn't notice, which pretty much said it all in terms of their parental responsibilities.

Richard walked out of the kitchen, and began walking up the stairs just as Dawn and Abby came bounding down them. As they passed, Richard sniffed at the air, but just shook his head and continued upstairs. Dawn and Abby came rushing into the kitchen. Maybe they were ready for a second go at the lasagna.

"Hell-o, everyone!" Abby exclaimed.

"Hi mom, how was your trip?" Dawn asked

"It was great honey. I just hope that you and Mary Anne don't mind too much that we were away all weekend."

"It was fine," Dawn responded. "We mostly just hung around and did homework anyway." Behind her, Abby stifled a giggle. "Abby's been helping me with a lot of things. We have three of the same classes together," she explained.

"Well that's very nice of you Abby," Sharon said.

"Anything I can do to help," Abby responded, smiling.

"Do you need a ride home Abby?" Sharon asked

"She's staying the night mom. I still have a lot of homework to catch up on," Dawn explained.

Mary Anne's mouth almost dropped. Abby was staying the night _again_? Surely Sharon wouldn't approve. They had never been permitted to have friends over late on school nights.

"Well I guess that's alright then. As long as Abby's mother doesn't mind."

"She doesn't," Abby replied cheerfully.

"Well I'm just exhausted, I'm heading to bed. Don't stay up too late studying girls." With that, Sharon left the kitchen, leaving the girls alone.

"That was easy," Dawn said. She grinned at Abby.

"I told you," Abby responded.

"What has Anna been up to Abby? Since your mom is in New York, and you're never home?" Mary Anne asked

Abby shrugged her shoulders. "She started dating Bart Taylor a few weeks ago. She's been spending all of her time with him."

"Anna's dating Bart?" Mary Anne asked incredulously. Kristy hadn't told her about that. Even Dawn looked intrigued.

"Yeah, I don't quite get it either. I think it may be one of those cases of opposites attracting. Whatever," Abby shrugged her shoulders.

"At least some of us is getting some action," Dawn said, smiling. "Except for Mary Anne, of course."

Mary Anne felt her cheeks turning red. "Can we not talk about that ever again? Seriously, I have to tutor Howie tomorrow afternoon. I still don't know how I'm going to face him." She covered her face with her hands.

Abby laughed. "You'll be fine Mary Anne, it's happened to all of us. Right Dawn?"

Mary Anne saw her sister turn a shade of red that matched hers. She guessed that Abby didn't know about Dawn's incident with Sunny.

"Right. It's not a big deal," Dawn affirmed, mostly for her own sake.

Abby ran her hands through her hair and made a face. "I'm going to go take a shower. Do you mind if I borrow some more of you pajamas Dawn?"

"That's fine."

"Thanks."

Abby bounced up the stairs, full of energy, as usual. This left Dawn and Mary Anne alone for the first time in days. The air between them felt heavy, and they both didn't say anything for a few moments.

"Have you called Sunny yet?" Mary Anne asked. She didn't know how much time she would have alone with Dawn before Abby came back, and she didn't want to waste time with pleasantries. She really wanted to know what was going on, and she was starting to suspect that being blunt was the only way that she would figure that out.

"No, I don't know what to say," Dawn replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I think it might be best to forget about it."

"You can't just forget about your best friend," Mary Anne countered. She needed an ally in this situation. "What does Maggie say about this?"

"I haven't called her since last week. It's too hard to keep tack of them. We're on completely different coasts."

"Just like it was too difficult to keep in touch with me when you were in California." Mary Anne thought to herself. She was beginning to see that Dawn only kept the friendships that were convenient to her at the time. It explained a lot.

"I guess it's your choice," Mary Anne responded. Her patience with Dawn was wearing thin. "But I still think you should keep in touch with both of them. You never know what could happen if you don't."

"I'm sure it will be fine," Dawn replied, dismissively. "I need to go work on some homework, for serious. I haven't even looked at my books this weekend.

"Well then what were you and Abby doing all day? Mary Anne asked, even though she was pretty sure that she already knew.

"Never you mind, sister dear. I'd hate for Kristy Thomas to find out, and somehow manage to spoil all the fun. Again."

"What is the matter with you? We hung out with Kristy last weekend, and you got alone with her just fine."

"Abby has shown me the error of my ways," Dawn replied. "Maybe someday I will enlighten you as well."

"Don't bother," Mary Anne replied, walking out of the kitchen. She was tired of Dawn's holier than thou attitude.

Walking up the stairs, Mary Anne could tell that Dawn was a few steps behind her. Both girls retreated into their rooms without saying a word to each other.

Flopping herself onto the bed, Mary Anne let out a huge sigh. A few weeks ago, she had had no one, and had been so incredibly lonely. Now her life was bursting with people, at least in comparison, but it was so incredibly complicated. She wasn't sure which situation she preferred.

Tigger hopped onto the bed, and nuzzled her face, looking for attention. Mary Anne pet him absent mindedly, her mind still focused on the events of the weekend. She still wasn't exactly sure of how she felt about everything that had happened last night. She told herself that it wasn't that big a deal. She wasn't disappointed with herself, anyway, but she certainly wasn't proud either. She was somewhat amazed at how easy it had been to do something that she had always been so hesitant of. And she was even more amazed that she felt no different at all after doing so. She wondered if any of her other major adolescent experiences would end up turning out this way.

The shower turned off, and she heard Abby changing in the bathroom. She couldn't help wonder if there was something at home that Abby was avoiding. Perhaps there was a reason why she had latched on to Dawn so quickly.

As soon as the thoughts came to her mind, she dismissed them, thinking of Abby's mom in her New York apartment, and Anna spending all of her time with Bart Taylor. Mary Anne wasn't too fond of Abby at the moment, but she certainly knew what it felt like to be alone in a house where a family was supposed to reside. Thinking of this, Mary Anne resolved to be more tolerant of Abby. If she was going to be spending all of her time with Dawn, they should all be able to get along.

Mary Anne turned off her beside lamp, and forced herself under the covers, despite the fact that she wasn't wearing her pajamas and she hadn't brushed her teeth. Suddenly she felt too tired to do anything. She figured that last night was catching up to her. Or maybe it was her new lifestyle that as tiring her out. What ever the reason, Mary Anne soon feel into a dreamless sleep.


	18. Chapter 17

It was Monday afternoon, and Mary Anne once again found herself waiting in the library for Claudia and Howie to come to the tutoring session that they had set up. Except this time she was silently wishing to herself that it would never happen. She didn't want Howie to come anyway. She was not ready to face him, especially after the day that she had had.

Lost in her thoughts and apprehension over what could be, she didn't notice that Howie had walked up to the edge of the table that she was sitting at. She also didn't notice that he was holding a bouquet of flowers; daisies, to be exact.

"I got these for you Mary Anne," Howie stammered.

Mary Anne felt herself turning red. "You really didn't have to do that, Howie," she mumbled.

"Of course I did. What happened to us Saturday night was amazing. It was almost cosmic. I know now that we are meant to be together."

Mary Anne sank down deep into her chair. She saw Claudia walk into the library, and breathed a sigh of relief. They could get down to business, and then it would all be over. She was never drinking again.

Claudia walked up to the table, and her eyes glanced from Howie, to the flowers, and to Mary Anne. She broke into a grin. "So I guess everything I've heard about Erica's party is true?" she asked.

"Everything, and then some," Howie replied, grinning like an idiot.

"So about _The Great Gatsby. _Did either of you finish your essays yet?" Mary Anne asked, flustered.

"We're reading _To Kill a Mockingbird_, Mary Anne, remember?" Claudia asked

"Right, right," Mary Anne "Do either of you have any questions about it?"

"Will you come with me to the movies on Friday?"

Howie's words hung in the air waiting for Mary Anne's reply.

"I-. Um…"

"Aren't you going out of town this weekend Mary Anne? With your family?" Claudia asked

"Right. That's right Claud. I'm going out of town this weekend. With my family. Maybe another time Howie."

"Oh. Well then. I have to go," Howies stammered. He picked up his books and the flowers and started to walk away. After a few steps he turned around and thrust the daisies back at Mary Anne, and proceeded to walk out of the library without saying a word. Claudia and Mary Anne just looked at each other.

"Thanks," Mary Anne said, burying her head in her hands. Her face was so warm that she could feel it.

"So are you going to fill me in on what happened? Since I saved you from a date with Howie? You kind of owe me." Claudia stated, pulling king-size Snickers from her backpack. She undid the wrapper and started munching thoughtfully.

"I don't know what happened. I hardly even remember being at the party. Abby and Dawn were the ones that told me what happened. Maybe you should ask them," Mary Anne mumbled, still hiding behind her hands.

"Wait a second, you went to a party with Abby?" Claudia asked.

"Yeah. With her and Dawn."

"I guess I just can't exactly see you two hanging out with each other," Claudia responded. She was choosing her words carefully.

"What do you mean? I know that she's a little wild, and she's certainly annoying, but she's not that bad. I mean, we all got along okay when we were in the Babysitter's Club," Mary Anne mused.

Claudia winced when Mary Anne mentioned the club. It wasn't a part of her life that she wanted to talk about in public. "We've all changed since then. And I guess that some of us have changed more than others."

Mary Anne nodded. "What about you. Have you changed?"

"I guess. I don't know. I did some things last year that I regret. But I think that I'm back on track now. At least I'm trying to be," As she said this, Claudia motioned to her notebook and folders. "I'm really trying to get my act together in my classes anyway."

"What do you regret?" Mary Anne asked. She hadn't really talked to Claudia all last year, so all she knew about her was what she had heard from the rumor mill.

"At the beginning of last year, Stacey became obsessed with becoming the most popular girl in the freshman class. It was right around the time she started dating Sam. And I kind of went along with it. I didn't think that I would have to drop all of my old friends. But I guess I made a choice." Claudia shrugged her shoulders, and reached into her bag for a package of Ring Dings. She offered one to Mary Anne, who shook her head.

"I guess what I regret the most is that I lost most of my close friendships. I mainly only have Stacey now," Claudia continued. "I know that there are some that I won't ever be able to get back."

"What do you mean?" Mary Anne asked, furrowing her brow. She and Claudia weren't the best of friends and the current time, but she didn't see it as an impossibility.

"Last year, right before school started, Stacey and I were hanging out at the Rosebud Café. Kristy and Abby were there too, but we weren't there together or anything. Anyway, eventually Mallory Pike came in with the triplets, while we were talking to Kristy and Abby. We ended up inviting everyone to the party at Bart Taylor's house that we were going to. And…

Mary Anne's eyes grew wide. Had this been what Mallory had alluded to earlier?

Mary Anne looked at Claudia imploringly. "And…?"

"Never mind," said Claudia, suddenly seeming cold and distant. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on Claud. Just tell me."

"You don't understand Mary Anne. Stacey would kill me if I let this slip. And she's all I have left now. I've got to go."

With that, Claudia left their table and the library before Mary Anne could get in another word. Mary Anne looked down at the table she was sitting at. It was littered with notebooks, pens, a bouquet of flowers, and junk food wrappers. This could possibly have been the most unsuccessful tutoring session ever.

Mary Anne started to pick up and sort out everything on the table. She didn't want the flowers, but she felt bad throwing them away. She took them with her, and hoped to herself that no one would notice her walking with them.

Lucky for her, the halls of Stoneybrook High were empty, as was the parking lot. Mary Anne began the walk home. Thankfully, she didn't see any one that she knew, and soon enough she was walking down Burnt Hill Road. As she became closer to her house, she was surprised to see that Sharon's car was in the driveway. It wasn't like her to be home this early.

Coming into the house, Mary Anne set down her backpack in the entryway and headed towards the kitchen to find a vase for the flowers. She arranged them as artfully as her limited skill allowed, and then set the vase on a table in the hallway. The flowers really were a nice gesture, but for all the wrong reasons. She really didn't want to keep them some where like her room where she would be forced to look at them constantly. She had enough on her mind without adding Howie Johnson to the mix, though it looked like he wouldn't be going away anytime soon.

Picking up her backpack where she had left it, Mary Anne headed upstairs to her room. Dawn's light was on, and music was playing in her room, but her door was closed. She wasn't really in the mood to talk to Dawn anyway. As she was setting down her things, the phone rang. Before she could answer it, the phone stopped ringing, and the music coming from Dawn's room had been turned down a notch. Looking, at the caller identification box, Mary Anne saw that the call was coming from the Stevenson household. It didn't surprise her that Abby was calling Dawn already, despite the fact that school had ended a little over an hours ago. It actually surprised her more that Abby wasn't there already.

Mary Anne sat down on her bed and pet Tigger, who started to purr. Though he wasn't a kitten anymore, Tigger never failed to bring a smile to her face. He was so cute.

Mary Anne heard a knock at her bedroom door.

"Can I come in?" Sharon asked

"Sure," Mary Anne responded, sitting up in her bed. Sharon walked into the room. It looked like she had started to change out of her work clothes, but stopped at one point. She was still wearing the skirt and blouse that she had worn to the office that morning, but for some reason she had a pair of jeans on under it. Mary Anne didn't point this out.

"How was your day Sweetie?"

"It was okay. How was yours?

"Oh just fine. I love coming home at night knowing that both of my girls will be there waiting for me. Can I ask you a question Mary Anne?"

"Sure. I guess." Mary Anne braced herself for the worse. Could Sharon have possibly found out about the party at Erica's? What did she work with anyway?

"It's about Dawn."

Mary Anne felt momentarily relieved. Sharon hadn't heard about the party. However, Dawn wasn't the safest topic either. She had no idea what was going on between the two of them, or how loyal she was supposed to be.

"You see her more than I do. How is she doing her? Is she fitting in at school?" Sharon asked, almost pleading. Mary Anne could tell exactly what she wanted to hear.

"She's made a lot of friends," Mary Anne replied, truthfully.

"Good," Sharon sighed, relieved. "I'm really happy that she is spending time with Abby. All the girls from the Babysitter's Club were so nice. I certainly don't want Dawn to fall into the wrong crowd. Not after everything that happened out in California."

Sharon sounded so earnest that it almost broke her heart. Mary Anne didn't have the heart to tell her that Abby was the wrong crowd that she was worried about. Besides, how could she do that without implicating herself, at least a little bit?

"I think things will work out for Dawn. And for all of us," Mary Anne said. That was only kind of a lie. She hoped that, anyway.

"Thanks Honey. I needed to hear that," Sharon said, rising from the bed. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour. We're having Broccoli Tofu Cabbage Loaf."

"Great," Mary Anne said weakly, her stomach turning at the thought. She would go hungry tonight.

Mary Anne lay back in her bed again. Her world seemed to be spinning so fast that she could hardly keep up. Had this been what she wished for, when she hoped and prayed to get rid of her loneliness? She wasn't sure about anything anymore.

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	19. Chapter 18

"Are they doing this on purpose? Do they want me to fail?" Kristy grumbled. "Seriously, if they don't turn down that music I'm going to go crazy. It's hard enough for me to make sense of algebra as it is."

"Calm down Kristy," Mary Anne responded. She had to admit, the music that Dawn and Abby were playing was obnoxiously loud; they could hear it though both doors that separated the rooms were closed.

"I can't! I just don't get this! Seriously, 'x' means nothing to me." Kristy flung her pencil across the room, hitting the wall. It fell on the floor dangerously close to Tigger, who ran underneath the bed to hide.

Mary Anne's eyes opened wide. She had been friends with Kristy since they were toddlers, but she rarely seen her act this way. Kristy wasn't normally the type who let little things frustrate her. Especially things like algebra.

"Don't worry Kristy, we have lots of time. You'll understand this before we're done tonight," Mary Anne assured, though she was in no way as confident as she sounded.

"Mary Anne, the test is tomorrow," Kristy said slowly. "There is no way I will understand everything by then. I might as well give up. This is all Abby's fault."

Dejected, Kristy shoved her notebook to the floor and stared glumly out the window.

Mary Anne looked at Kristy "And it's Abby's fault because…?" She asked

"Well, for one thing, she and Dawn are playing the music so loud that I can't concentrate," Kristy, explained, yelling the last part in the direction of Dawn's room. "Also, we were in the same math class last year, and she always distracted me. I didn't learn anything then, and now I have no foundation to learn any of this stuff. Case and point."

Mary Anne rolled her eyes. Once Kristy got something like this in her head, there was no convincing her otherwise. "Maybe we should take a break. A short one. Do you want to go downstairs and get something to eat?"

"Sure, it's almost dinner time anyway. I might need some Advil as well. I have a throbbing headache," Kristy replied angrily. "Just don't expect me to eat any of that health food crap that you always have an abundance of."

"We'll find something, don't worry," Mary Anne said as they left her room and headed downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Hey, are those the infamous flowers from Howie Johnson?" Kristy asked as they passed through the hallway.

Mary Anne glared at her, and continued into the kitchen.

"Well at least now you have something to remind you of why you shouldn't be stupid and go to huge drinking parties," Kristy commented cheerfully.

This earned another glare from Mary Anne. Kristy's mood was elevating at a direct result of her own personal misery. Wonderful.

Opening the panty, Mary Anne pulled out graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows. "Will S'mores work? We can make them in the microwave. I think they will help us study."

"Chocolate is the ultimate brain food," Kristy said, nodding.

Mary Anne set up the snack. Kristy was pouring glasses of milk for each of them as they heard the door to Dawn's room open, music spilling out from it. Seconds later, Abby and Dawn came bounding down the stairs and into the kitchen. Mary Anne held her breath, remembering what had happened that last time all four of them had been together.

"Are you eating chocolate? Can you even comprehend the additives and other toxins that will now become part of your bloodstream?" Dawn asked.

Mary Anne rolled her eyes. At least Dawn had broken the ice. Before she could say anything, Abby did it for her.

"Relax Dawn. You get way too into the health food thing." As she said this, Abby rooted around in the cupboard and came out with a stick of beef jerky. She took a bite and smiled at Dawn. "Yum. Want some?"

"Why don't you just eat a live cow Abby?" Dawn muttered. "I think that I'll just have a bottled water, thanks." She turned her gaze to Mary Anne and Kristy: "You're having a party, and you didn't invite us?"

"We're just studying for the algebra test that we have tomorrow," Mary Anne explained quickly. The last thing that she needed right now was more conflict.

Dawn turned to Abby "Do we have any tests tomorrow?"

Abby shrugged her shoulders. "I hope not." They laughed.

"I take it that you haven't started all the work that you're behind on?" Mary Anne asked, staring at Dawn.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "The work will get done. I've transferred schools about a million times. I think that I know what I'm doing."

"If you say so," Mary Anne said simply. "But-"

Before she could finish, Kristy cut her off. "Come on Mary Anne, let's go back upstairs. I can't speak for all of us, but I for one would like to make it to eleventh grade." She handed Mary Anne a glass of milk, and the two of them carried their snacks upstairs. As they left the kitchen, Abby said something, causing both her and Dawn to burst out laughing.

Once they were back into Mary Anne's room, Kristy shut the door securely. "When Dawn first came back from California, she seemed normal. I guess that was before she happened upon Abby Stevenson."

"I honestly don't think that most of this is Abby's influence. Dawn's changed a lot since eighth grade. Maybe this is just who she is now."

"How can you just accept that? Doesn't it make you mad? Why do people have to change so much? Don't they realize that not everything is about them? Turning away from Mary Anne, Kristy quickly wiped away a tear that had just formed.

"Is everything going okay at home Kristy? Mary Anne asked gently. "With Watson and everything?"

"I don't know!" More tears had formed, and they were now running quickly down Kristy's cheeks. "I don't even know what an okay family would be like. I don't think that I have ever had one. Have you?"

Mary Anne simply shook her head and handed a box of tissues to her friend.

Kristy went on: "Watson is still living at a hotel, and Mom still isn't sure how she feels about him moving back. Meanwhile, Karen and Andrew are totally confused, because they don't know much of what is really happening, and they're not living with either one of their real parents. Charlie refuses to visit until Watson is gone for good. I don't think he realizes that that isn't the perfect solution. Sam spends all his time with Stacey doing God knows what, and Nannie has basically taken over the entire household. David Michael has it in his head that all dads are evil, and I don't even know what poor Emily Michelle is thinking. She's so little."

"What should I do Mary Anne? How can I make things better?"

At this point Mary Anne reached to give Kristy a hug, but she was pushed away. Though she had been rebuffed, Mary Anne wasn't too hurt. She understood that sometimes sharing the pain hurt more than keeping in all inside.

"I think that you are doing everything you can Kristy. Really and truly, you can only do so much. You are not the adult in this situation, and no one expects you to be. You know that, right?"

Kristy nodded her head, tears still streaming down her face.

"Right now, you just need to take care of yourself. Neither you or I have any idea of what will happen with Watson and that situation, so it is pointless to worry about it when that only makes everything hurt more, you know?"

"Yeah."

"You need to take things one day at a time. We both do. And today, we worry about algebra, okay?"

Wiping away the last of her tears, Kristy made a face. "I hate this stuff."

"As do I. But because neither of us have the math brains of Stacey, we need to study," Mary Anne explained.

Kristy shook her head. "Stacey McGill, the math genius. Some things in this world just don't make sense. Like what my brother sees in her," she grimaced. "Oh wait. I know what he sees in her."

Mary Anne giggled, earning her a look from Kristy.

"Let's get back at it," Kristy said, resigned.

This girls spent the rest of the night studying together and preparing for their test. Around nine, Nannie arrived in the Pink Clinker to take Kristy home. Kristy begrudgingly offered Abby a ride when everyone realized, without acknowledging it out loud, that there was no one home at Abby's house to pick her up, and no one at the Spier house to give her a ride home.

Without Kristy and Abby there to keep them occupied and apart, the uneasiness between Mary Anne and Dawn became more apparent. They stood in the entryway of the house, the air around them thick and uncomfortable.

"Do you have any idea when mom and Richard will be back tonight?" Dawn asked.

Mary Anne shook her head. "No, I don't think they left a note."

Dawn frowned. "That's weird. They always leave a note."

"Yeah, I know. You don't think something's wrong, do you?"

"I hope not. Let's look around. There's got to be a note here somewhere."

"I'll check the living room, you check the kitchen," Mary Anne directed.

Bonded by fear of the unknown, Mary Anne and Dawn forgot about whatever was going on in between them.

Ten minutes into their search, Dawn was triumphant: "I found it!"

Mary Anne came rushing to the kitchen. "Where? What does it say?"

"It was inside the blender. I'm not sure why mom thought we would look in there. Anyway, it says that they are at a dinner party in Mercer, and they won't be back until after midnight."

"I guess it's just us then," Mary Anne said, sighing.

"Just us," Dawn echoed.

The girls stood in the kitchen for a few minutes trying to make small talk before retreating to their separate bedrooms, shutting the doors, and shutting each other out.


	20. Chapter 19

As the final bell rang on Friday afternoon, Mary Anne found herself joining the crowd of students heading to their lockers eager to leave the building and start the weekend. As she was loading her backpack with the books that she needed to take home over the weekend someone tapped her on the back. She turned around, finding Abby and Dawn.

"Oh…Hi," Mary Anne said.

Dawn skipped such pleasantries. "Can you do me a favor?"

"I guess."

"I doubt that mom and Richard will be around this weekend, but if they are, can you let them know that I'll be at Abby's? You can tell them that we're doing homework."

"You're going to stay at Abby's all weekend? What are you going to do?" asked Mary Anne.

"We're going to party it up, that's what!" Abby said grinning.

"Abby!" Dawn shot her a glance. She turned to Mary Anne. "We were going to invite you, but we weren't sure that you had a good time at the last party. I mean, you weren't too thrilled about the Howie thing. Maybe you can hang out with Kristy."

"We don't really want to have to see you puke again," Abby explained.

Mary Anne rolled her eyes. She was almost glad that Dawn would be gone all weekend. That was she wouldn't have to deal with her.

"Whatever, that's fine," Mary Anne said dismissively. "I'll see you Sunday."

"Thanks Mary Anne, you're the best," Dawn yelled over her shoulder. She and Abby were already halfway down the hall at this point.

Even though she definitely didn't want to be involved with what ever Abby and Dawn had planned for the weekend, she was still a little hurt that they hadn't asked her to come to their party tonight. Mary Anne had just about resigned herself to the fact that it was unlikely that she and Dawn would ever be as close as they used to be. She was mostly okay with that.

Turning again to her locker to retrieve her books, Mary Anne was surprised when Kristy stopped alongside her.

"Mary Anne, you've got to do me a favor," Kristy began.

Mary Anne sighed. Was she having déjà vu?

"Sure, what do you need?" she asked.

"Can you spend the night at my house tonight? Mom and Nannie are taking all of the kids to see a play in New York City, and they will be staying over at a hotel. If you don't come over, I will have to spend the weekend alone with Sam…and Stacey."

Mary Anne thought about the situation. "I'm not really sure…"

"Why, do you have something planned with Dawn?"

"No, she's spending the weekend with Abby.

"All the more reason to come over. Please Mary Anne. We can do whatever you want."

"Oh Okay," Mary Anne relented.

"You're the best- I totally owe you one!" Kristy exclaimed. "Now hurry up and get your things, or we're going to miss the bus."

"The bus! I need to get home and get my things! What will I wear?"

Kristy rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about it. You can wear some of my clothes."

Mary Anne grimaced. Kristy's style hadn't exactly changed much since eighth grade. In fact, Mary Anne was still pretty sure that Kristy was wearing the same exact clothes from two years ago; she had never been one who liked to go shopping. Still, it wouldn't be that bad. It's not like anyone would see her besides Kristy, and maybe Sam and Stacey.

"That will work," Mary Anne responded weakly.

"Good. Now come on!"

"I'm coming," Mary Anne complained, though she couldn't help smiling. This Kristy in charge reminded her of how things used to be.

On the bus ride to McLelland Road, Mary Anne used Kristy's cell phone to call home and leave a message on the answering machine explaining where she was spending the night, and where Dawn would be all weekend. She didn't have any idea as to what her father and Sharon had planned for the weekend, but she suspected that she was leaving a message in vain for an empty house, and that she would be the one to receive it when she arrived home sometime tomorrow. Always the dutiful daughter, she did it anyways. She still had some qualms about what had happened the previous weekend, and was therefore striving to be responsible in every other area of her life.

As the bus made its stop at the end of the Thomas-Brewer's driveway, Mary Anne looked out the window and saw Bill and Melody Korman playing outside. She smiled. As they stepped off the bus, Kristy waved at Shannon Kilbourne, who was across the street sitting on her porch with her sisters Tiffany and Maria. Mary Anne waved too, even though she hadn't talked to Shannon since eighth grade.

When they arrived inside, Kristy let Shannon the dog out into the backyard to run amongst the birdbaths. They took turns throwing balls for her to fetch. When she was finally tired of that, the girls made their way upstairs to Kristy's bedroom. As they passed Sam's room, Mary Anne noticed that the door was shut, and that there was a red rubber band tied around the door handle.

"What's that?" she asked Kristy

"You don't want to know," Kristy replied, grimacing.

Just as Kristy responded, the sound of a female voice screaming in pleasure rose above the music that could be heard coming from Sam's room. Kristy closed the door to her own room, and shook her head.

"I bet you anything that Stacey will be knocked up before she's sixteen."

"Kristy!"

"It's not like I'm excited about it. Do I look ready to be an aunt?" Kristy continued. "At least she knows enough about child care. She has the Babysitter's Club to thank for that."

At fifteen, Mary Anne did not feel ready to be talking about anything like that. She quickly changed the subject.

"Dawn is staying over at Abby's house all weekend. I guess they are having a huge party tonight."

Kristy shot her a look. "If you are even thinking about going over there, I don't even want to hear about it. Seriously, the less time I spend with Abby Stevenson, the better. And your sister isn't so high on my list either. No offense."

Mary Anne shrugged her shoulders. At this point, Dawn wasn't too high on her list either. "Believe me, I have no desire to go over there. I've had enough partying to last me for about five or six years.

"Good," Kristy said, smiling. "Me too."

With just the two of them together in the room, Mary Anne could tell the Kristy had let her guard down a little bit. Feeling brave, she took this opportunity to ask something she had been wondering about for a long time.

"Kristy, what happened between you and Abby last year?"

The word hung heavy in the air between them. Finally, Kristy began to speak.

"Everything was fine at the beginning of last year. We were both running cross country, and we had a bunch of classes together, and everything seemed to be going really well. Sometime around November she started to change. She didn't care about anything- not sports, or her grades, or her family. Around the same time, I got caught up with everything that was happening here. We just became two different people. Honestly, I didn't see her much last spring, even though we were both on the softball team. And I didn't see her at all last summer." Kristy shrugged as she explained this, but Mary Anne could tell that it hurt her more than she let on.

Mary Anne reached out to comfort her friend, but Kristy had already put her guard back up. Mary Anne could practically see her pushing the issue out of her mind.

"Mom left money to order pizza," Kristy said, consciously choosing to change the subject. Does supreme work for you?"

Mary Anne nodded. "I like everything."

"Okay, good."

Kristy called for a pizza, and it arrived shortly thereafter. The girls ate and gossiped for the next few hours. As the night went on, more and more cars began to flock towards the Stevenson house. Abby apparently had quite the social network for a sophomore.

Around nine, they decided to put on pajamas and get settled watching movies. Mary Anne changed out of her jeans and pink hoodie into the sweatpants and Krushers t-shirt that Kristy gave her. Pulling her hair into loose pigtails, she deemed herself ready for a night of comfort and relaxation.

The girls hadn't rented any movies, but the Thomas-Brewer's had pay-per-view, and Mary Anne as able to convince Kristy to purchase the new version of _Robin Hood,_ which Cam Geary starred in. He was so incredibly good looking. A few minutes into the movie, Sam and Stacey walked through the living room, heading to the Stevenson house. Kristy turned up the volume on the television in attempts to drown out some of the noise that was coming from the party. It didn't really work .

Around eleven thirty, as they were in the middle of _A League of Their Own_, the doorbell rang. Kristy and Mary Anne looked at each other for a second. Who would be coming over at this time of night.

"This better not be someone coming over drunk from Abby's party," Kristy muttered.

Mary Anne followed Kristy to the front door. Kristy looked through the peep hole, and then turned to Mary Anne with a puzzled expression on her face. She opened the door, revealing her dad and Sharon on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" Mary Anne asked. She was kind of worried. She couldn't remember the last time her parents had been in town on a Friday night, much less out tracking her down.

"Our plans for the weekend fell through, so we came to pick up you and Dawn. We just didn't like the thought of the two of you staying out so late," Richard explained.

"I left you a message saying where we were," Mary Anne said weakly.

"It's not a problem for Mary Anne to stay here," Kristy offered. "My mom said it was okay."

"All the same, we would like Mary Anne and Dawn home tonight," Richard responded.

"We just want to spend some time with our girls!" Sharon exclaimed.

Mary Anne looked at Kristy, who shrugged helplessly.

"We'll go get Dawn while you get your things together. Now what house is Abby's? I don't think that I have been there before." Richard looked at the girls expectantly.

Kristy and Mary Anne looked at each other, and then in the direction of the Stevenson house.

Just as Mary Anne was opening her mouth to speak, two squad cars with their sirens blaring barreled down McLelland Road and came to a screeching halt in front of Abby's house. Inside, the music stopped.


	21. Chapter 20

Kristy was the first one to react, taking off barefoot across her lawn and to the Abby's house. Mary Anne followed her, with her dad and Sharon close behind. As they arrived in front of the Stevenson house, one of the police officers was quick to stop them before they made it to the front porch. Two other officers were walking up to the door. The red and blue lights still flashing on top of the squad cars, causing haunting shadows to appear in the yard.

"What's going on?" Kristy asked brazenly.

"It's nothing for you to be concerned about young lady," The police officer responded.

"Excuse me officer, but our daughter is in there," Richard explained.

The officer looked at him quizzically. "You let your daughter go to an unsupervised party?"

"Yes. I mean, no. We didn't know that she was going to a party. She didn't mention it." Richard's face was turning red, and he was obviously flustered.

"I see," the officer responded.

"Is everything alright in there officer?" Sharon asked, her voice slightly panicked.

"As far as I know. Really, you have no reason to be worried. We were called here by a neighbor who was upset about the noise level, and had reason to believe that no adults were home."

While Richard and Sharon talked to the officer a little longer, Mary Anne and Kristy turned their gazes to the house. A few minutes ago, the house had been bursting with light, music, and energy. Now the music had been turned off, along with many of the lights. The two officers whom had originally gone to the door had stepped inside, and an eerie silence hung in the air.

A few minutes later, the front door opened, and the two officers walked out, Dawn and Abby with them. Richard and Sharon rushed over immediately and began talking to the officers. Mary Anne and Kristy remained huddled together, watching the scene from afar while Abby and Dawn glared at them.

At this point, Dawn stepped away from the others and began walking up to Mary Anne and Kristy. Her eyes were sharp as they stared straight at Mary Anne, daring her to look away.

"You bitch," Dawn spat out "I can't believe you did this, after everything that we've been through. You knew that the last thing I needed was to get parents involved. You are dead to me Mary Anne."

With this Dawn began walking swiftly down McLelland Road, away from Abby's house. When the adults noticed this, one of the officers left to run after her. Meanwhile, Mary Anne had been reduced to almost nothing, and was sitting on the ground, hugging her knees to herself. Kristy helped her up, and together they returned to the Thomas-Brewer's, leaving the commotion of the Stevenson household behind.

Once inside, Kristy led Mary Anne to the kitchen, where she gave her a glass of water, not really knowing what else to do, Mary Anne proceeded to sip the glass for a few minutes, and her tears somewhat subsided.

Suddenly, her eyes filled with tears again. Mary Anne turned to Kristy: "What did I do wrong?" she asked, her voice small.

Kristy shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know Mary Anne, I really don't."

"I love her because she's my sister, but I don't think I like her that much any more. Is that okay? Am I a bad person?"

"Of course not," Kristy replied. "I think Dawn's just confused right now. And you've tried to be her friend. I know you have."

Before Mary Anne could respond, they heard the door open and close, and Sam and Stacey joined them in the kitchen.

"What the fuck Kristy? You called the cops?" Sam asked angrily.

"What are you talking about?" Kristy asked, her eyes flashing. "I don't care enough about what you do to bother the law enforcement. We were just watching movies."

"Then what are her parents doing out in the yard?" Sam asked, gesturing towards Mary Anne, who remained huddled in the chair, tears streaming down her face.

"They just showed up here while we were watching movies to take Mary Anne and Dawn home. They came here first, they didn't even know where Abby's house was. We were talking to them when the cops came. So maybe you should check your facts before you go around accusing innocent people." Kristy crossed her arms over her chest, and gave Sam a look.

Sam softened a bit, but he still didn't look as if her entirely believed Kristy. "Everyone else is saying that you called the cops because you and Mary Anne hate Abby and Dawn," he said warily.

"Yeah. Apparently, Dawn thinks that you want her to go her back to California. Or to boarding school in New Hampshire. That's I heard from Erica anyway," Stacey contributed.

"No one hate's anyone. Now if you don't mind, we're kind of in the middle of something here,"

"Whatever. You should be thanking me for warning you," Sam said.

"Thanks."

"Come on Stace, let's go to bed," Sam said, putting his arm around her, and leading her out of the kitchen.

"Okay," Stacey replied, giggling, "but only if you promise we can get back to what we were doing before the sirens interrupted us."

"Sure thing, babe."

Kristy rolled her eyes and turned back to Mary Anne. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know."

"Fair enough," Kristy replied. She looked out the window, to the mess that was the Stevenson from yard. Several of the neighbors were standing on their porches watching the commotion. Abby was not going to ever hear the end of this. Not that she didn't deserve it.

"Is Dawn out there? Did they catch up to her?" Mary Anne asked

"Yeah, she's standing with your dad and Sharon. Do you think they are going to make you go home with them?"

"I hope not. I don't want to be near Dawn right now."

"I don't blame you, I wouldn't either," Kristy peered out the window again. "Uh oh, it looks like Sharon is coming here."

Mary Anne put her head in her hands. "Oh great."

Kristy walked out of the kitchen and to the door to meet Sharon. They talked for a few minutes in muffled whispers while Mary Anne waited for whatever was to come next. Eventually, Sharon entered the kitchen, but Kristy was not with her.

Sharon pulled out a chair and took a set next to Mary Anne. "Sweetie, can I ask you a few questions?"

Mary Anne only nodded, dabbing at the corners at her eyes with a tissue.

"How has Dawn been doing here? Honestly."

Mary Anne hesitated for a moment before she said anything. "I'm not really sure. When she first came, I thought maybe it would work. But she's changed a lot. I know that she is still behind on her homework. I don't think that she's done any of the work that she's missed."

"What about parties? Has she been to others besides this one?"

Mary Anne nodded. She didn't want to say anything, and risk having Sharon find out that she accompanied Dawn to the party last weekend. If Dawn was as made as she seemed, that would come soon enough.

Sharon shook her head sadly. "I really thought that she would change if she came out here. I really thought we could make it work."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I wanted to make it work too. Maybe we still can," Mary Anne shrugged her shoulders.

"Did you want to spend the night here the way you planned? Your father and I are going to take Dawn home, and then we'll have to seriously talk about some things. You should stay and have your fun with Kristy."

"I will, thanks."

"Okay. Call us tomorrow morning when you want to come home, and we will make sure that you get a ride. I think we'll have to have some sort of family meeting when you get home. Maybe we can even go out to dinner afterwards."

"That would be nice," Mary Anne said, smiling.

"Good night sweetie, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night."

Sharon stood up from her chair and walked through the kitchen. She stopped at the entryway. "Mary Anne?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for trying so hard. It means a lot to me. And to your father."

Before Mary Anne could respond, Sharon had left the kitchen and was opening the door leading outside. Mary Anne stared after her, going over the conversation that they had just had in her head. She wondered what exactly Sharon and her dad were going to talk about. She also wondered if Dawn really thought that she had called the cops to set her up and get her into trouble. But why would Dawn think that?

Mary Anne rose from her chair and the kitchen and looked out the window, straining her eyes to see what was happening outside. Things were calming down, and most of the onlookers had already returned to their houses. Her dad and Sharon were leading Dawn to their car, and one of the squad cars had left. Both remaining officers were standing by Abby, who was talking on a cell phone. Mary Anne wondered whom she was talking to.

At this point, Kristy returned to the kitchen. "How did things go with Sharon?"

"Okay, I guess. She wasn't mad at me or anything. I think that she is just upset about Dawn. She doesn't know what to do."

Kristy nodded. "I'm glad that she let you spend the night here at least."

"That was nice. But tomorrow is going to be interesting. Sharon said that her and my dad are going to talk over things tonight. When I go home tomorrow we are having a family meeting."

Kristy grimaced. "I hate family meetings. You never have them unless something is going wrong."

"I hate them too. But we need it."

"Yeah,"

Mary Anne turned to Kristy "Do you want to finish watching the movie?"

"Kristy wrinkled her nose. "Not really. I kind of just want to go to bed."

"Me too."

The girls then proceeded to walk upstairs to Kristy's bedroom. Both girls fit with room to spare in Kristy's enormous bed. They said good night, but Mary Anne was up for a long time afterward, pondering what would happen the next day. Right before she finally drifted off to sleep, she wondered if, across town, Dawn lay in bed doing the same thing.


	22. Chapter 21

The sun shining in through Kristy's windows woke Mary Anne up on Saturday morning. Tired, she squinted at the clock, and deemed 10:36 as an acceptable time to think about getting out of bed. Quietly, as not to wake up Kristy, she rose out of bed and made her way down the hall to the second floor bathroom that most of the kids shared. As she was walking out of the bathroom, hoping to return to the warm comforts of Kristy's bed, she ran into Stacey in the hallway. Her hair was messy, and she was wearing nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of Sam's boxer shorts. Still, she gave off a very sophisticated aura.

"Good Morning," Mary Anne said

"Good Morning yourself," Stacey replied. "I forgot that you were spending the night here too. It's almost like one of the Babysitter's Club sleepovers. Except some of us didn't really get any sleep."

With that, Stacey made her way down the hall and into the bathroom. As she closed the door, Mary Anne was kind of glad that she had gotten there first. Quietly opening the door to Kristy's room, she saw that her friend was already awake, though she had made no effort to move from the bed. Mary Anne climbed back in and snuggled a pillow. Both girls were content to lie in a half awakened state, and for the next several minutes neither of them said a word.

Mary Anne surveyed the room; it was an interesting mix of sports paraphernalia, as well as some more girlish things added by Elizabeth. Somehow, it didn't seem out of place for Kristy's baseball glove to be sitting on the same bedside table as a framed picture of flowers. It just seemed like Kristy, who was somehow in between everything, yet completely sure of herself at the same time.

The blankets started to shift, and Kristy stood up, stretching and yawning. She rubbed her eyes: "Ready to get up?"

Mary Anne nodded. She was tired too. Both girls headed downstairs to the kitchen, not really saying anything. Kristy wordlessly handed her a packet of strawberry Pop-tarts, which she opened. After a few minutes, both girls began to perk up.

"So what do you think is going to happen with Dawn? Your dad and Sharon have got to be mad. Do you think she will get in trouble?"

Mary Anne shrugged. "I hope so. I mean, I don't really want her to get in trouble, but something has to be done."

"Maybe she should stop hanging around with Abby."

"I guess that would help. But really, I think this is more Dawn than Abby. She was wild in California, and she's wild here. I just don't think she realizes that there isn't anywhere else to go if she screws up here. Besides boarding school in New Hampshire, I guess."

"I still think that a lot of it is Abby's fault. Dawn seemed normal that first weekend," Kristy said firmly.

"Who knows. It's hard to tell. All last year I thought Abby was normal, and that you two were best friends."

"That's how it started."

Mary Anne looked at Kristy imploringly: "Care to elaborate on that?"

"Not particularly."

As soon as Abby was brought up, the air in the room seemed to thicken, and Mary Anne could feel the tension. She backed down and changed the subject. She would leave Kristy alone for now.

"I guess I better get ready and call home. They're expecting me so we can have a family meeting or whatever."

Kristy gave her a sympathetic look. "Good luck with that. Mom and Nannie will be home this afternoon with the kids, so I know that I will be busy. Call me and let me know what happens though."

"Don't worry, you'll hear all about it. I'm sure I'll need to vent to someone," Mary Anne replied.

With that the girls got up and left the kitchen, going upstairs to get ready for the day. Shortly after, Mary Anne called home, and Sharon soon came to pick her up. The ride back across town was quiet, as both Mary Anne and Sharon were tired from the events of the night before.

When they arrived home, Sharon pulled into the garage and Mary Anne quickly retreated upstairs to her room. When she arrived inside, she was surprised to see that both of the doors to the bathroom she shared with Dawn were open, and she could see right into Dawn's room. What really shocked her was Dawn's room itself: it was pristine. Forgetting that Dawn had vowed to never talk to her again, she found herself wandering through the bathroom to find out it what she was seeing was real. And it was. Both beds were perfectly made, and all of the clothes that had been strewn across the floor had been hug up neatly in the closet. Dawn was sitting at her desk surrounded by textbooks, softly humming to herself as she did her homework.

"Wow." Mary Anne couldn't help but saying. She could hardly believe that what she was seeing was real. Maybe it wasn't.

Dawn turned and looked over her shoulder at Mary Anne. Instead of the cold sparks that had come from her eyes last night, she gave a simple smile. "I know, right? It took awhile to get things this clean. But it had to be done."

Mary Anne was so shocked that Dawn had actually talked to her after last night that she literally felt herself shrinking back. "It looks great in here."

"Thanks. I'd love to hang out with you, but I really need to get some of this homework done before we have that family meeting if you don't mind. Maybe we can watch a movie together tonight," Dawn replied, her voice warm and welcoming.

"Sure, that might be fun," Mary Anne responded. With that, she quickly turned around and went back into her room, partially closing the door that separated her room from that bathroom. She had no idea what had just happened. Maybe last night had been a dream.

Maybe.

Tigger jumped on her bed and rolled onto his back, begging her to pet him. She did, glad that least one thing in her life was constant. Tigger was always loveable, and willing to love back, as opposed to other members of the household who shifted back and forth for no apparent reason.

Mary Anne lay back on her bed and thought for a moment about calling Kristy and letting her know that latest news about Dawn, but then decided against it. Instead, she chose to push the issue out of her mind and instead focus on her homework. She worked hard, and had already completed her algebra equations, conjugated Spanish verbs, and made up history flashcards by the time her dad and Sharon came to her room and asked herself, and then Dawn to come downstairs. Mary Anne braced herself for what was coming next, as she truthfully had no idea. At least her life was no longer boring.

They all settled down in the living room, with Mary Anne and Dawn sitting together on the couch, and Sharon and her dad each in a separate chair. On the couch, Mary Anne was seated directly in front of the family picture that had been taken in eighth grade. It was a nice picture, it even had Jeff in it, but it in no way represented the family that they were now. Not even close.

"Girls," Richard began "I know that it's been an interesting couple of weeks, with Dawn moving back, and school starting, and there's been a lot of change going on in everyone's life. And-"

"What he's trying to say," Sharon interrupted. "Is that we are concerned about some of the things that you girls are doing. The party last night was totally unacceptable." Sharon turned to Dawn "You need to get your act together young lady."

Dawn tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled shyly. "I know mom, and I will, I promise. Abby's sister Anna talked us into it, honest. Abby and I were just planning on doing our homework together."

Sharon looked skeptical. "If you've been spending so much time doing your homework, how come you're so behind in your classes?"

"It takes a long time to catch up. I missed two weeks in the beginning of the year, remember? But don't worry, I'm going to spend all weekend studying, and I should be on top of things by the end of the week. That is, if Mary Anne will help me with my English essay."

Richard smiled. "I'm sure she would love to. And both your mother and I would be very happy if you were caught up with your homework by the end of the week. But we are serious, you can't be going to parties like that when you are living in this house. That goes for both of you. Do you understand?"

Mary Anne felt personally offended after hearing that statement. Sure, she had gone to a party, but her father didn't know that. At least she hoped he didn't. She couldn't be certain that Dawn had kept that to herself.

"Yes Dad," Mary Anne replied. "I understand."

"Me too. I talked to Abby this morning, and we are going to stop spending time with Anna. We were just trying to be nice and include her because she doesn't have many friends, and she's Abby's sister, but that didn't get us any where, I guess."

"We are glad that you want to be friendly towards Anna honey, but you do need to be careful about the people you spend time with. Not everyone has been raised that same way that your girls have," Sharon explained. "Maybe you and Abby should try to find some different people to hang out with. I'm sure Mary Anne and Kristy would love to include you. Isn't that right Mary Anne?"

"Sure," She offered. Inside, she winced. Kristy would not be happy to hear that she had been volunteered to spend time with Dawn and Abby.

"Maybe you could spend more time with the rest of the Babysitter's Club," Richard offered.

"That's a good idea too," Dawn said diplomatically, not making any indication the Babysitter's Club didn't exist.

"Well I think that both of you girls should take everything said here to heart." Richard said. "We're going to be watching very closely these next few weeks to make sure that everything is going smoothly, but I'm not too worried. I think what happened last night was a wake-up call for everyone."

"This will be a fresh start for all of us," Sharon said.

Mary Anne groaned inwardly. How many fresh starts would Dawn get?

"I'm going to make you proud mom," Dawn said. She looked toward Richard. "Both of you."

"That's my girl," Sharon exclaimed. She got up and approached the couch, first giving Dawn, and then Mary Anne a hug.

"How about the four of us go out to dinner tonight?" Richard proposed. "We could go to Cabbages and Kings. We haven't been there in quite some time."

"That sounds great honey," Sharon said. Dawn and Mary Anne nodded in agreement.

The four of them did go out to dinner, and they had a great time. It was almost as if they were a real family. It reminded Mary Anne of how things used to be right after her dad had married Sharon. It was nice, but given everything that had transpired in the last month, Mary Anne knew that it wasn't real.

Dawn was on her best behavior throughout dinner, making conversation and even laughing at all of her dad's corny jokes. She didn't even say anything when Mary Anne and Richard ordered meat. It was almost as if the previous two years had never happened.

As they arrived home, Mary Anne and Dawn both retreated to their separate rooms. Mary Anne headed towards the phone straightaway; she needed to fill Kristy in on everything that had happened.

When Mary Anne picked up the receiver, she realized that Dawn was already on the line, talking from the extension in her own room.

"Abby? Guess what?" Dawn asked

"What?" Abby replied.

"They bought it."


	23. Chapter 22

Mary Anne was fuming. She had known, to an extent, that Dawn was up to something that went past a normal teenagers idea of lying to their parents to get out of trouble. But actually hearing her say it to Abby made it real and that much more horrible. They had probably plotted it together. Maybe Kristy was right about Abby. And maybe she had been wrong about Dawn all along.

Sure, they were sisters, but it's not like they had a bond that could inevitably bridge every change they would each go through, as well as physical distances. Apparently, there were a lot of things that she had yet to learn about Dawn. She would find them out. But first, there was something else that she had to do.

Mary Anne put her jacket back on, and went downstairs where her dad and Sharon were watching television. "Can someone give me a ride to Kristy's?" she asked.

"I didn't know that the two of you had plans tonight," Richard remarked.

"I just called her, and she asked if I wanted to hang out," Mary Anne lied. "Her mom and Nannie are both home. They should be able to give me a ride back tonight."

"I can sweetie," Sharon replied. "Just let me find my keys. Now I think I left them in the silverware drawer…"

"Is Dawn going over to Kristy's with you?" Richard asked.

"No, actually. I asked, but she's still working on her homework. I guess she really wants to get it over and done with." Mary Anne was surprised at how easy it was to lie to her father. She figured that it might be harder if he were in anyway paying attention.

"Well I'm glad she's finally buckling down. We won't stand for anything else around here."

"Right dad," Mary Anne replied. She couldn't think of anything else to say. The two of them remained in an awkward silence while Sharon continued the search for her keys.

"I found them," She finally called triumphantly, closing the door to the bathroom medicine cabinet. "Ready, Mary Anne?"

"I'm ready."

Mary Anne didn't say much during the ride to the Thomas-Brewer's. She couldn't get a word in edgewise. Sharon was so happy with the way the day had gone that she couldn't stop talking about it. Mary Anne didn't have her heart to tell her that it was all fake. If Sharon couldn't pick up on that herself, there was no way she was going to be the one to shatter the illusion. Fortunately, they soon arrived.

"You can let me out here," Mary Anne said, motioning to the sidewalk outside Kristy's house. "This driveway is hard to back out of."

"Okay sweetie. Call and let us know if you need a ride. Bye!"

Mary Anne stepped out of the car. "I will. Bye."

After Sharon was out of sight, Mary Anne turned around and face Kristy's house, bracing herself for what she was about to do. Taking a deep breath, she slowly turned and walked along McLelland Road until she was in front of the Stevenson house. The house was dark but for a single light coming from a room on the second floor. Mary Anne momentarily lost her nerve as she anxiously tried to figure out how long it had been since she had gone over to Abby's house for anything. Even when they had been friends she hadn't spent much time there.

She walked up the stairs to the front porch and rang the doorbell before she had a chance to think about it. The door bell chimed to the tune of some sort of classical piece, which made her think of Anna's violin. Momentarily, she smiled. After waiting about a minute, she rang the doorbell again. This time, she heard footsteps racing down the stairs, which couldn't be any one but Abby.

The door opened. Abby was on the other side, holding her cell phone with the mouthpiece covered. "Mary Anne? What are you doing here?" Abby asked. She brought the phone up to her ear. "Can I call you back?"

"What are you doing here?" Abby asked again.

"Can I come inside?"

Abby opened the door wider. "Sure, I guess."

"What's going on with you and my sister?" Mary Anne asked point blank.

Abby furrowed her brow. "We're friends. The last time I checked, there was nothing wrong with that."

"Being friends is one thing, but being joined at the hip and illegal activities are quite another." Mary Anne countered.

Abby smirked. "You weren't too concerned about illegal activities last weekend, if I recall."

Mary Anne could feel her face turning red. Every single lecture about the consequences of ones actions was now coming back to her. Why the hell had she not listened to the voice inside her head instead of her selfish sister?

"I made a mistake, and I'm learning from it. You and Dawn make mistakes, lie your way out of them, and then make the same mistakes again to celebrate. There's a difference."

Abby's eyes turned into narrow slits. "At least we have fun, instead of crying all the time because we have no friends. Seriously Mary Anne, all you have is pathetic Kristy Thomas. Your own sister just barely puts up with you."

"You're right. Dawn and I may never really be friends again. But I still care about her. And that means that I don't think she should be hanging out with you. What good have you ever done for her? How can you even call yourself a friend?"

"Don't make it sound like I don't care about Dawn," Abby replied, her voice faltering for a moment. "I really do, okay?"

"Well then you have a strange way of showing it," Mary Anne shot back, crossing her arms over her chest.

Abby opened her mouth to respond, but then closed it again before she said anything. Both girls stood in the large entryway not saying a word.

Finally, Abby broke the silence that had ascended upon them. "You don't have to like me Mary Anne," she said softly, "You can hate me if you want to. I know that Kristy does. But don't try to come between Dawn and I. She's basically the only one that I have right now."

"What about your mom and Anna?"

Abby rolled her eyes. "Last year Mom fell for her assistant, James. So now she spends more time in the city than she ever did. She even has an apartment there. She barely noticed when I…she barely noticed anything that happened last year."

Momentarily, Mary Anne's heart went out to Abby. One part of her wanted to give the girl a hug, but she held back. She had no idea if anything Abby was saying was true or not.

"What about Anna?" Mary Anne asked.

"We're different. Kind of like you and Dawn. She's been spending all of her time with Bart Taylor since they started dating. Anyway, I think she's kind of given up on me."

Abby's words hung in the air. Mary Anne wasn't exactly sure how to respond.

"I'm sorry Abby, I really am. But how does Dawn fit into all of this?"

Abby shrugged "We're the same."

This statement struck something inside Mary Anne, but she didn't ask Abby to elaborate on it. Instead, she reached out and slowly brought her hand to Abby's shoulder. She held it there for a second, and then pulled back.

"I should go," she said.

Abby nodded. "Okay."

Mary Anne turned to head out the door, but stopped for a second on the porch. "Abby?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care of yourself. And do what you can to take care of my sister."

Abby nodded, her chin wavering almost imperceptibly as she shut the door the big house. Mary Anne set off down the driveway, stopping when she reached the sidewalk. Her mission accomplished, she wasn't quite sure what to do. Not wanting to barge in on the Thomas-Brewer's, she began walking in the direction of her house. It would be a long walk, but she needed the time to think. It would do her good.

The cool night air had her walking swiftly, still mulling over her conversation with Abby. Despite everything that had been said, she still wasn't too fond of her. And she most definitely didn't respect her. But something between them had changed. She wasn't angry with her any more. And she wasn't really angry with Dawn either. Truthfully, she felt sorry for them, despite not know the particulars of either situation.

Mary Anne hugged her jacket to herself as the wind picked up a bit. She looked up to the night sky and said a silent thank you that she and Kristy had each other. Just like Dawn and Abby had each other. The heart of each friendship was the same.

About an hour later, Mary Anne found herself walking up the driveway to her own house. Coming inside, she was stopped by her father, who was working at the kitchen table, legal journals and notepads spread around him.

"Back so soon Mary Anne?" he asked absently.

"Kristy wasn't feeling well. She wanted to go to bed," Mary Anne lied.

Richard barely glanced up from whatever he was working on. "That's too bad. Good night sweetie."

"Good night Dad," Mary Anne responded. With this, she head upstairs to her bedroom. She changed into her pajamas, and settled down on her bed, Tigger curled up at her side, with a good book to read. About half an hour later, Dawn wandered in through the bathroom and sat down on Mary Anne's desk chair. Mary Anne looked up from her book, but Dawn didn't say anything.

"Do you need something?" Mary Anne finally asked.

Dawn swiveled around slowly in the chair, back and forth. The moonlight shining in from the window made her blonde hair look almost white. Slowly, she shook her head, rising up from the desk chair. She left the room and Mary Anne, closing the door behind her.


	24. Chapter 23

Mary Anne remained on her bed and stared at the door that Dawn had just closed behind her. Part of her wanted to run after her and comfort her in anyway that she would allow, but another part of her wanted to forget about what had just happened and go back to her book. She looked at Tigger who rolled over on his back and purred. He was no help.

Sighing, Mary Anne slowly got up from her bed and went to check on Dawn. Right as she was about to knock on the door, music erupted from Dawn's stereo, drowning out any move she was about to make. She tentatively knocked anyway, but didn't get any response. Confused, she wondered why Dawn was trying to hard to reach out and pull away from anyone who cared about her. Maybe whatever was going on was more than a matter of escaping to whatever situation didn't suit her at the time. Maybe much of the problem resided in Dawn herself.

As got back to her bedroom, the phone rang. Rushing to pick it up, Mary Anne found herself answering in unison with Dawn. She held her breath, waiting to see if Dawn noticed or not. She didn't. Glancing at the caller identification box, she could tell that the call was coming from the Stevenson house. Being careful not to make a sound, she listened.

"Hey Dawn, it's Abby,"

"Hey, what's up? Are you working on getting the stuff from Cary?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah I'm working on it," Abby said quickly. "But that's not why I called. I just... I just wanted to ask if you were doing okay. I mean, with everything that's going on and all."

Dawn's voice changed as she became defensive. "Of course I'm fine. I'm awesome. Why would you ask?"

"Just because we're friends. And I was just wondering," Abby responded. "Geez, It's just a question."

The phone was silent on both ends of the receiver as Mary Anne held her breath, waiting for whatever was to come next. She was glad that Abby was reaching out to Dawn, even though Dawn might just end up pushing her away, as she had done to Mary Anne. It seemed that in light of the conversation they had had earlier, Abby cared more than Mary Anne had originally thought.

Abby was the first to break the silence. "Mary Anne stopped by tonight."

"Why?" Dawn asked, her voice cold and tight.

"I don't know really. She's concerned about you I guess. She was cool when she left. It wasn't a big deal or anything. But anyway, about next weekend…"

"What did you tell her?"

"Nothing, really. I just told her that we were friends, and that wasn't going to change. You know," Abby explained.

"I can't believe you would talk to Mary Anne without even letting me know! She was at the door when we were talking earlier, wasn't she?" Dawn asked, her voice rising.

"Yeah. But I still don't see what the big deal is."

Mary Anne swallowed back a lump that was growing in her throat. She knew that she should hang up, but she had to hear whatever it was that Dawn was going to say.

"The big deal is that you didn't even tell me! You just said we were friends, Abby! What do you think friendship is?" Dawn yelled this last part into the receiver.

Mary Anne could tell that Abby was getting nervous. "Maybe you should relax a little, and call me back later, Dawn. Or maybe call me in the morning," she said hesitantly.

There was no immediate response, and Mary Anne held her breathe waiting for what was going to come next. Instead, the line remained silent until she heard a soft click on the receiver. In her room, Dawn shrieked so loud that Mary Anne could hear her above the music playing.

Still holding the phone, Mary Anne stood still, unsure of what her next move should be. It soon turned out that she didn't have to decide: Dawn came careening in through the doors separating their bedrooms, her face twisted into pure anger. Tigger saw this, and ran for refuge under the bed.

"What is your problem?"

Mary Anne stood next to her bed, still holding the phone receiver in her hand. She found herself unable to move, barely able to form coherent thoughts. "What do you mean?"

"You had no right to go talk to Abby! And you have no right to interfere with my personal life! What is the matter with you?" Dawn's words stuck Mary Anne like daggers.

"I…I care about you Dawn. I really do. I just want you to be happy," Mary Anne stumbled over her words, knowing that nothing she could say would make Dawn happy.

"No you don't! You don't care about me! No one cares about me! You all just pretend, and I'm sick of it!" With this, Dawn swept her arm across the top of Mary Anne's bookshelf, knocking down everything that was on top of it.

The commotion upstairs caused Sharon and her dad to come upstairs and see what was going on. Mary Anne couldn't remember the last time that she had been so happy to see her parents. She had no idea what was going with Dawn, but she knew that is was beyond anything that she could do to fix it. Even so, she wasn't sure if her dad or Sharon could really fix it either.

"What's going on in here girls?" Richard asked sternly "We're trying to enjoy a nice movie downstairs, and we can't even hear the television over the screaming up here."

"This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Dawn yelled, throwing her arms above her head. "None of you get it!"

Dawn turned around and walked into her room, with Sharon trailing after her. Richard looked at Mary Anne, his face showing his confusion. He sighed, and looked at the mess of what had fallen off Mary Anne's bookshelf. "You really should clean that up Mary Anne." With that, he followed Sharon into Dawn's room.

Mary Anne looked at the empty spaces where her family had been standing just a moment ago. She realized that she was still holding the telephone receiver, and finally set that down. Walking right by the mess on her floor, she stood in the doorway of Dawn's room, and silently observed the happenings.

Sharon stood with her hands on her hips, facing her daughter. Mary Anne noticed for the first time that they were about the same height.

"Listen, Dawn. I don't know what is going on with you, but I'm tired of playing these games. Do you want to go back to California and live with your father?"

Dawn's eyes grew big, but she didn't say anything.

"Do you?" Sharon prodded.

"No," Dawn said softly.

"Do you want to go to boarding school in New Hampshire?"

"No," Dawn said, firmly this time.

"Well then, this is your only option. So you need to figure out how to live here, or you're going to be going somewhere you don't want to. Is that clear?"

Dawn locked eyes with Sharon and almost imperceptibly nodded her head.

"Good," Sharon turned and looked towards Mary Anne's dad. "Come on Richie, let's get back to the movie."

Mary Anne watched her father and stepmother leave the room and retreat back downstairs. Even when they were trying to be actual parents, they weren't anywhere near effective. She rolled her eyes, thinking of how they were going to go downstairs and probably congratulate each other on being so tough.

Mary Anne's eyes moved from the door to Dawn, who was standing in between the twin beds looking defeated.

"Go away Mary Anne," she said, her voice monotone and unwelcoming.

"No."

Mary Anne could tell this surprised Dawn, but it surprised her even more. Being assertive wasn't exactly her strong point.

"I don't want to take right now."

"Well I do," said Mary Anne, still pushing.

Dawn looked her square in the eye. "Fine. Talk."

"You call me from California, begging for my help, and I do whatever you want. You come back, and I do whatever I can to listen to you, to spend time for you, and to be there for you. Yet even after everything that I've done for you these past few weeks, you don't think twice about putting me in the middle of Dawn's family feud. And I'm sick of it!"

Dawn folded her arms across her chest. "Go on," she said simply.

"I'm your sister Dawn. And I will always be here for you. But I can't keep seeking you out, and having you push me away. I'm here for you, but you're going to have to come to me. I'm not going to be Mary Anne to the rescue anymore."

Mary Anne folded her arms across her chest, and waited for a response from Dawn. After a minute of silence, she turned around and went into her own room, closing the door behind her. She sunk to the floor, and a smile broke out across her lips. She had no idea how she had done it, but she had stood up to Dawn.

She was happy that she had told Dawn how she felt, but was still unsure of how she felt about the whole situation. She didn't know if Dawn would ever reach out to her, but she would always be ready, in case she did. Maybe that's all that she could do.


	25. Chapter 24

Mary Anne woke up Sunday morning after a restless sleep. Instantly she was flooded with thoughts of everything that had happened in the past few days. She rolled over to look at the clock that sat on her bedside table. It was almost eight-thirty. Knowing that she would be unable to fall back to sleep, she dragged herself out of her warm bed and to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the day.

After getting dressed and grabbing a granola bar for breakfast, Mary Anne set out the door and headed down Burnt Hill Road, to Slate Street, towards United Faith, Stoneybrook's Presbyterian Church. Even though her family wasn't extremely religious, Mary Anne had found the she liked going to church services when she had a lot on her mind. Somehow, it comforted her.

Mary Anne didn't really pay that close attention to the service, instead using the time to quietly reflect on everything that had occurred in the last month. She wasn't really sure that she understood it, just as she didn't have any idea as to what would come next. But maybe that was okay.

After the service, Mary Anne exited with the rest of the congregation. She was almost out the door when Gabbie Perkins came up and gave her a big hug from behind, followed by Myriah, with Laura toddling behind. The three girls were dressed in slightly different variations of the same outfit.

"How are you doing today, Mary Anne Spier?" Gabbie asked.

Mary Anne rolled her eyes. It was cute when Gabbie had called people by their full names when she was two, but now it was just annoying. "I'm doing great Gabbie, how are you?"

"Great! Mommy and Daddy are taking us to the museum in Stamford today."

"We are very excited," Myriah added. "Expect Laura doesn't really know what to expect, because she is just a baby."

"I'm sure she will still have fun," Mary Anne assured.

Mr. and Mrs. Perkins joined the group to get the girls. "How are you doing Mary Anne?" Mrs. Perkins asked warmly.

"Really good," Mary Anne replied.

"Could you take the kids to the car, honey?" Mrs. Perkins asked. "I want to talk with Mary Anne a bit."

"Sure thing, come on girls." He picked up Laura, and guided the older girls towards the exit. "Good-bye Mary Anne," Mr. Perkins said.

Mary Anne stood next to Mrs. Perkins, waving good-bye to the girls. She wasn't really sure what Mrs. Perkins wanted to talk to her about at all. It had been over a year since she had been over to baby-sit.

"Mary Anne, are you still friends with Kristy?"

"Yes, why?" Mary Anne responded.

Mrs. Perkins sighed. "I've been worried about her. She babysat for us a lot last year after the club broke up. She was great with the girls, don't get me wrong, but something about her seemed different. She just seemed so worn out. At the beginning of last summer she called and told me that she couldn't baby-sit anymore, that there was too much going on at home. I've thought of that a lot these past few months. Are things okay with her?

Mary Anne bit her lip. While she was glad that Mrs. Perkins was concerned, she really didn't want to give out that much information. It was Kristy's story, not hers.

"She's doing okay," Mary Anne said carefully. "Things are starting to get better for her."

"I'm so glad to hear that," Mrs. Perkins said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Do let us know if they're anything that we can ever do to help either of you girls out."

"I will." Mary Anne promised.

"Good-bye Mary Anne. I hope to see you around here more often," Mrs. Perkins said, giving her a hug. "I better go catch up with my husband and the girls."

"Good-bye," said Mary Anne, waving.

After the Perkins family mini van drove out of the parking lot, Mary Anne looked around the lobby and realized that it was mostly empty. She zipped up the windbreaker that she was wearing, and headed out the door to begin her walk home.

Walking into her house, she passed Sharon who was in the kitchen, turning the pages of a cookbook. "Hi Mary Anne, how was church?"

"It was nice," Mary Anne replied.

"Good. How does vegetable pasta tofu zucchini sound for dinner tonight?"

Mary Anne wrinkled her nose. "Good, I guess. Would you mind if Kristy came over for the day?"

"Not at all, as long as you two are quiet. Your dad and I have had so much to deal with these last couple days, we really just want to spend some time together without having to worry about you girls."

Mary Anne chose to ignore the last part of what Sharon said. "Thanks. I'll give her a call." she says, running out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her room.

She picks up the phone and dials Kristy's number. It's answered right after the first ring.

"This is Karen Brewer, how may I help you?"

Mary Anne groans inwardly. "Hi Karen, can I talk to Kristy?"

"How come nobody ever wants to talk to me?" Karen pouted.

"I'll talk to you next time I come over, I promise. Can you please get Kristy?"

"Fine."

Mary Anne hears the phone drop, and Karen yell for Kristy. A few moments later, Kristy picks up the extension.

"You can hang up now," Kristy said.

Mary Anne heard a click, and Kristy let out a sigh. "Ignore her. She's been really annoying lately."

Mary Anne tried not to laugh. She had always though that Karen was annoying, but Kristy had only just recently begun to realize this. Sometimes she didn't catch on to things right away.

"No problem. Do you have any plans for today?"

"Not really. Why?"

"I thought you might like to come over. We could do homework together, or watch a movie or something," Mary Anne proposed.

"That would be great; I need to get out of the house. And I think that Sam is picking up Stacey to go to lunch and then the movies, so he should be able to give me a ride over. Let me ask him."

"Okay," Mary Anne responded.

Mary Anne teased Tigger with a string while she waited for Kristy to come back to the phone. Tigget rolled over on his back and looked adorable, as usual.

"He can drop me off." Kristy affirmed, coming back on the line. "I should be there in about half an hour."

"Sounds great, I'll see you then." Mary Anne said.

"Bye."

While she waited for Kristy, Mary Anne some reading for her English class, though it was hard for her to concentrate. Music was blaring from Dawn's room again. She wondered if Dawn had even left her room all morning. Then she pushed the question out of her mind. She was trying to not worry about Dawn It wasn't really working.

Hearing a loud car coming down the street, Mary Anne looked outside to see Kristy coming out from the back seat of the Junk Bucket, glaring at Sam and Stacey, who were sitting close together in the front seat.

"Bye," She heard Kristy shout. A few seconds later she heard the doorbell. Sharon opened the door and greeted Kristy, and seconds later Mary Anne could hear her bounding up the stairs.

"Hey Mary Anne," Kristy greeted her, jumping up onto the bed. "What's up?"

"I'm just working on some homework- it's nothing too exciting."

"Not what's up with that," Kristy said impatiently. "What's going on with Dawn?"

"Oh, that," Mary Anne said giggling. "I officially think she's crazy. I have no idea what goes on in her head."

"Well then she's a perfect match for Abby," Kristy said. "Is she still mad at you about the party? Did she even talk to you?"

"I don't think she's mad at me. Not for that, anyway. I think that she is just mad at everyone."

Kristy nodded. "I can see that. I just can't figure out why."

Mary Anne frowned. "Me either. And it seems like she is never going to let me in. I just feel so bad. I mean, she's my sister. I want to help.

Kristy hung her head down. "Sometimes things don't work out like that. I haven't talked to Charlie since he went off to school like five weeks ago. He's just so upset with everything that Watson's put us through. And I don't blame him, but I wish he could deal with it without shutting us all out."

"I'm not even sure that Dawn realizes that she has stuff to deal with."

"Maybe she's just not ready," Kristy replied.

"Do you remember when we were growing up, and we would always pretend to be sisters?" Mary Anne mused.

"Yeah," Kristy replied.

"I always loved that. I always wanted siblings. That's part of the reason why I was so happy when Dad married Sharon. It's just so different then I ever imagined. I hardly ever see Jeff. And Dawn has just changed so much."

Kristy nodded. "Charlie used to be the strongest one out of us all. I don't know what happened to him."

"I hate it when people change."

"It's not so bad," Kristy pointed out. "You've changed a lot for the better. You're a lot stronger then you were in eighth grade. Change isn't all bad."

"I guess not," Mary Anne agreed.

The girls sat together on Mary Anne's bed not saying anything for a few moments.

"Kristy?" Mary Anne asked

"Yeah?"

"Why did you ditch me last year?"

Kristy blushed. "I'm really sorry about that…"

"I know. And I'm not mad. Not anymore at least. I just really need to know why," Mary Anne said.

Kristy shrugged her shoulders. "It was just so easy with Abby. We had classes together, and played sports together, and she was over at my house all the time. She was just always around. It was easy. And then Abby started, well, everything that she's doing now, I guess. But at the same time, everything was falling apart at home. I felt it was best that I didn't have any close friends. I didn't want them to know what was going on with me.

Mary Anne nodded, and Kristy continued.

"I missed you a lot. But I figured that you would be mad at me, so I didn't try to talk to you. Plus, Charlie didn't want any of us to talk about what was going on at home." Kristy looked her in the eye. "I really am sorry, Mary Anne. I don't want anything like that to happen between us again."

"Me either. I don't know what I would do without someone to talk to about everything. Last year kind of sucked for me."

"It won't happen again," Kristy said, suddenly confident. "I was the one who let go last year. I'm not sure if I would let that happen again or not. I hope not. But I know that you are stronger than that. You're better than that. You wouldn't let me go. You were the one who sought me out this fall. You've grown up a lot, Mary Anne. I hope I can say the same."

"You have. I can tell," Mary Anne responded.

Mary Anne grabbed for a tissue to wipe away the tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes. Some things never changed. She then reached over to Kristy to give her friend a hug. Kristy held tight for a second, and then pulled away.

"Do you think that things will ever be like they were before?" Kristy asked

Mary Anne shrugged. "I wanted that for a long time. But now I'm not so sure that I do. Things were nice before, especially eighth grade, but now I don't think that I could go back."

"I guess," Kristy said, her voice uncertain.

"We can't focus on going back Kristy. We need to just look ahead and hope to make things better. That's all we can really do."

Kristy looked at Mary Anne and smiled. "I think you're right."

Mary Anne smiled back at Kristy. It had taken her a long time to figure out, but she was pretty sure that she was right too.


	26. Chapter 25

"This was fun, Mary Anne. I'll see you in school tomorrow!" shouted Kristy, racing down the steps to the driveway.

"Bye Kristy!"

Mary Anne stood at the door and waved as Sam pulled into the driveway in the Junk Bucket, with Stacey in the passenger seat next to him, his arm around her. She had a guilty smile on her face, and was in the process of re-applying her lipstick. Not noticing this, Kristy opened that door and hopped in to the backseat, waving to Mary Anne.

As Sam backed out of the driveway, Mary Anne shut the door and walked through the hallway, headed upstairs to her room. Before she could ascend the stairs, Sharon stopped her.

"Where are you going Mary Anne? Dinner's ready," Sharon said brightly.

Mary Anne took a deep breathe. All she wanted to do was go upstairs to her room, do her homework, and relax. She wasn't in the mood for whatever it was that a family meal would entail. Still, she turned around and gave her stepmother a warm smile. It wouldn't kill her to sit with her family for an hour. And it's not like she could avoid it.

She followed Sharon to the dining room, where the table was set for four. This was unusual. Most of the time they weren't all home for dinner, and when they were, they would usually eat scattered around the house. Sharon was making quite the effort, though she had neglected to take off her apron. A spatula, along with what appeared to be a road map, stuck out of the pocket.

Mary Anne pulled out her chair at the table, and sat down. Her hair was pulled back into loose pigtails, which she twirled around her finger one at a time while she waited for everyone else to be seated. Her father soon took his place, while Sharon nervously walked around the table, stopping every time to rest her hand on the back of the chairs that were reserved for Dawn and Jeff.

"Dawn will be down in just a second," She said, mostly trying to assure herself. The corners of her lips fought to remain in their smiling position.

Richard cleared his throat. "How are things going in school, Mary Anne? Are you keeping your grades up?"

Mary Anne nodded politely. "Yes dad. Algebra is my hardest class, but I should do fine."

"That's what I like to see," Richard replied.

Sharon walked out of the dining room and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "Dawn," she called, "Dinner is ready."

A few seconds later they heard a door open and then close again upstairs. Sharon and Dawn walked together into the kitchen, where they took their seats.

"Well this is nice!" Sharon exclaimed, as they passed around the vegetarian dish that she had made.

"It certainly is," Richard agreed, helping himself to a hearty portion.

The sounds of utensils hitting plates and the occasional clearing of throats were the only sounds that came from anyone for the next several minutes. Try as she might, Mary Anne couldn't think of anything to say to fill the silence.

"I talked to Jeff today," Dawn said suddenly.

"That's great honey, how's he doing?" Sharon asked.

"Good," Dawn replied. She paused. "They want me to come out for a visit."

"Maybe you can go out for Thanksgiving," Sharon suggested. "Then Jeff could come here for Christmas, and we could all be together for a little while."

Dawn set down her fork. "I'd kind of like to go out before then. I miss everyone, especially Gracie."

Richard cleared his throat for what must have been the tenth time in the last five minutes. "We do understand that Dawn, but you just got here. I'm not sure if you realize it, but cross-country flights are expensive. And you're still not completely caught up with your homework either."

"Thanksgiving is only two months away," Sharon added.

Mary Anne watched the exchange, hoping that she would not have to get involved. She moved around the food on her plate to look busy, but she wasn't really eating much. Two years later, she was still not that fond of vegetarian dishes. Meals just tasted better with meat.

Dawn slumped back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest.

"I knew this would happen," She mumbled.

"Dawn…" Sharon said, her voice suddenly sounding stern. "Do you remember what we talked about last night?"

"I remember," Dawn said under her breath. Mary Anne could tell that she wasn't happy. Still, she picked up her fork and resumed eating.

Sharon looked straight at Dawn. "Good." She put a smile back on her face. "Maybe we could take a mini vacation this winter, when you two are off of school and Jeff comes to visit. We could go to New York for a few days, or maybe Boston again."

"Not Boston," Mary Anne said.

"I second that," Dawn chimed in.

"What do you two have against Boston?" Sharon asked, obviously puzzled.

Dawn looked at Mary Anne and rolled her eyes. Mary Anne giggled, and both girls smiled. If only for a second, they connected.

"We don't have to go to Boston," Richard said. "There are plenty of other places for us to explore in New England. I'll consult my travel almanac, and draw up a list of options."

Sharon beamed. "That would be great Richie."

The rest of the meal continued with silence mixed with the occasional spurt of small talk. Sharon served yogurt for dessert, which appeased Dawn, but kind of grossed out Mary Anne. Yogurt definitely did not qualify as a dessert.

After dessert Sharon got up from her chair and began clearing the table. Richard and Mary Anne both rose to help her.

Dawn remained in her seat.

"Can I go now?" she asked

"Of course, I'm sure that you have homework to get to," Sharon replied. She looked at Mary Anne, who was stacking the plates together. "I can take care of that honey. Why don't you go upstairs with Dawn. I'm sure you girls want to spend some time together."

Mary Anne put down the plates that she was holding. "Okay. Thanks."

When she got to her bedroom, Mary Anne pulled out her biology textbook and began reading the chapter that they were going to be talking about in class the next day. She had already read it once, but she figured another time wouldn't hurt.

Mary Anne was deep into reading about the Krebs Cycle when Dawn walked in from the door that connected her room to the bathroom. She threw herself down at the foot of Mary Anne's bed, making herself comfortable.

"What was up with dinner?" Dawn asked. "We never eat together like that. Do you think that they are going to want us to do that all the time now?"

Mary Anne shrugged her shoulders, and pulled her pale pink blanket tighter around herself. She wasn't sure exactly what Dawn was doing; if she was being earnest, or if she was playing some sort of game. Either way, she didn't want to appear too excited.

"I don't know," Mary Anne said finally. "With this family, nothing surprises me anymore."

"I know what you mean." Dawn was silent for a little while as she absently braided her hair together, and then let it fall out, gold strands running through her fingers.

"I don't hate you Mary Anne," Dawn said suddenly, without any hint of emotion.

Mary Anne wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond to that.

"Thanks, I guess," she said.

"I wasn't sure if you thought that or not."

"I guess I did sometimes," Mary Anne said slowly, carefully choosing the words that she wanted to say. She paused. "I don't hate you either."

Dawn nodded. "Thanks. I know that I would kind of deserve it."

Mary Anne didn't deny that, but she didn't affirm it either. She looked to the framed picture of her and Dawn on her nightstand, standing together at their parents wedding, young and eager to start their new life as sisters. She then turned to look back at Dawn now. She saw only an impermeable exterior in the place of former openness. Dawn was older, and so much more jaded than the girl of two years ago. Mary Anne wondered if she looked that way herself, at least to an extent.

Dawn's eyes caught on the picture, and for a second, her face relaxed. A moment later the hardness hard returned, and she looked Mary Anne in the eye. "I'm not very happy," she said.

Mary Anne nodded. "I can tell. I wasn't very happy for awhile either."

"I think I knew that," Dawn said. "But I didn't do anything. I barely even talked to you all last year."

Mary Anne reached over to grab a tissue. She dabbed at the corner of each eye as she remembered the rejection she had felt every time Dawn had failed to return one of her phone calls. It still hurt, actually.

"How did you get better?" Dawn asked.

"I found Kristy again. She needed me just as much as I needed her, and something about that was enough," Mary Anne shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I just let go of all of the hate and hurt that was inside of me. It wasn't worth it. Do you know what I mean?"

Dawn nodded as she used her sleeve to wipe away a tear that had fallen down her cheek. Mary Anne handed her a tissue, and then took another one for herself.

"You're very brave," Dawn stated.

"I don't think I was brave as much as lucky," Mary Anne confessed. "I don't know what I would have done if things hadn't worked out with Kristy."

Dawn sniffled and wiped away another tear. She looked down at the bedspread and didn't say anything.

"I guess I was kind of brave," Mary Anne continued. "I had to let Kristy in, which wasn't easy. But I did it. You could do the same sort of thing you know, with Abby. Maybe that could help, at least a little."

Dawn's eyes brightened a little, but her expression stayed flat.

"Maybe," she said.

Mary Anne felt a glimmer of hope arise from somewhere inside of her. Maybe Dawn and Abby could somehow bring each other out of whatever they were each separately experiencing, and become better for it. Maybe her family could eat dinner together every once in awhile, or go on vacation together and not fight the whole time. Maybe she could have a real conversation with her sister.

"Maybe," Dawn said again.

Without warning, Dawn stood up from the bed, and walked through the bathroom to her bedroom. This time, she left the doors between the rooms open.

**The End**

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At this point, I want to thank everyone who has read this story, and those who have reviewed in particular. I don't think that I can express how much it means to me to have people enjoy something that I write. A thanks goes out to Ann M Martin as well, of course, for creating this series, though if she had not I might have had a much more productive summer.

Much thanks to Celica60 for the often provided assurance and encouragement. Your update requests definitely sped up the process of this story, so maybe other readers should thank you as well.

Lastly, thanks to my friends who are not a part of this fandom, but whom did not tease me mercilessly when they found out what I was working on all summer. You know who you are.

Chelz22

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